Ralph de la Torre, MD, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Steward Health Care is invoking his Fifth Amendment right ahead of a Senate committee's contempt vote.
Dr. de la Torre's attorney reasserted in a Sept. 18 letter to Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee that the CEO "lacks the authority to speak on behalf of Steward with respect to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and he is prohibited by a federal court order from doing so."
The letter comes after Dr. de la Torre defied a congressional subpoena and failed to attend a Sept. 12 hearing. The attorney alleged in his letter that the hearing "was seemingly designed as a vehicle to violate Dr. de la Torre’s constitutional rights."
"The U.S. Constitution affords Dr. de la Torre inalienable rights against being compelled by the government to provide sworn testimony that is specifically (yet baselessly) sought to frame Dr. de la Torre as a criminal scapegoat for the systemic failures in Massachusetts' health care system," the letter said. "Accordingly, on the advice of counsel, Dr. de la Torre invokes his procedural and substantive rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, including the privilege to refrain from testifying at the committee’s hearing.
Steward sought Chapter 11 protection May 6 and has since been working to offload the remainder of its 31 hospitals. Dr. de la Torre's absence from the hearing came as he has faced criticism the past few months for lavish vacations and ownership of two multimillion-dollar yachts while the for-profit health system's hospitals struggle.
The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee will vote Sept. 19 on two resolution adoptions. The first will be for civil enforcement and the second will be "for certification to the United States Attorney for criminal contempt."
"If passed by the committee, both resolutions will be advanced to the full Senate for a vote," according to a Sept. 12 new release from the committee. "The resolution for civil enforcement of the subpoena instructs Senate Legal Counsel to bring a civil suit in the District Court for the District of Columbia to require Dr. de la Torre’s compliance with the subpoena and his testimony before the HELP Committee. The criminal contempt resolution would refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute Dr. de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena."