Steward Health Care Chairman and CEO Ralph de la Torre, MD, has declined to participate in a bipartisan Senate committee hearing scheduled for Sept. 12, despite being subpoenaed, Bloomberg reports.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted July 25 to subpoena Dr. de la Torre to testify in the hearing titled, "Examining the Bankruptcy of Steward Health Care: How Management Decisions Have Impacted Patient Care."
In a letter dated Sept. 4, Dr. de la Torre's legal team informed HELP Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders that the hearing is being turned "into a pseudo-criminal proceeding in which they use the time, not to gather facts, but to convict Dr. de la Torre in the eyes of public opinion," Bloomberg reports.
Dr. de la Torre's legal team stated that the CEO is also unable to testify due to restrictions arising from Steward's recent settlement with Medical Properties Trust, as well as limitations imposed by the health system on discussing matters related to the bankruptcy, debt obligations and financing transactions, Bloomberg reports.
The HELP Committee had yet to release comment on Dr. de la Torre's absence at time of publication. Mr. Sanders emphasized the gravity of the subpoena when lawmakers voted on it in July, marking the first subpoena issued by the HELP Committee since 1981. He stated that Congress has repeatedly invited Dr. de la Torre to address allegations of financial mismanagement at Steward, only to be met with refusal.
"And time and time again, he has arrogantly refused," Mr. Sanders said at the time of the vote. "Well, today, we say enough is enough. It is time for Dr. de la Torre to get off of his yacht and explain to Congress the financial chicanery which made him wealthy while the hospitals he managed went bankrupt."
Dr. de la Torre has led Dallas-based Steward Health Care since its inception in Boston in 2010. As the situation at Steward has worsened, scrutiny of Dr. de la Torre has intensified. His luxury lifestyle, including his yachts and travels to France for the summer Olympics, has drawn media attention. Most recently, the Boston Globe's Spotlight investigative team focused its attention on Dr. de la Torre's finances.
Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 6, putting its 33 U.S. hospitals across nine states up for sale. The sales process has been slow, with bid deadlines and hearings continually pushed back. Becker's has compiled a state-by-state tracker to monitor the status of these transactions.