Sanders and Cassidy launch investigation into Steward Health bankruptcy

The Senate Health Committee is launching an investigation into the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care, a Dallas-based hospital chain with a significant presence in eastern Massachusetts, and will vote next week on whether to issue a subpoena to its CEO, Ralph de la Torre.

Steward operates 31 hospitals in eight states, including eight in Massachusetts. It filed for Chapter 11 protection in May and plans to sell all of its hospitals. But bankruptcy documents show she paid millions of dollars to executives, including de la Torre.

Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) announced Thursday that the committee will vote on the subpoena on July 25, to compel de la Torre to testify at a hearing on July 12 of September.

“Given the serious harm and uncertainty that Steward’s bankruptcy and financial settlements are causing to hospitals, patients and healthcare professionals across the country, Dr. de la Torre has given us no choice but to compel him to testify at this hearing,” Sanders and Cassidy said in a joint statement.

Steward took over a failed hospital system run by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2010 and backed by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, converting it into for-profit institutions before buying hospitals across the country.

Cerberus embezzled money from the hospitals and then sold all the land to a real estate investment company for over a billion dollars, and agreed to rent it back for millions of dollars in rent every year. Steward used the money from the deal to finance further expansion, allegedly without investing in existing hospitals.

Before the bankruptcy, Steward had also been sued by at least two dozen suppliers who claimed they were not paid for supplies and services.

De la Torre accumulated personal wealth at the same time, living in a Dallas enclave alongside former President George W. Bush and Mark Cuban and reportedly owning a $40 million yacht and a luxury fishing boat. He received about $16 million a year in compensation, according to the committee, and Cerberus made a profit of $800 million.

In a separate statement, Sanders and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) criticized Steward and de la Torre as textbook examples of corporate greed.

“There could be no clearer example of this than the private equity vultures on Wall Street who make their fortunes by taking over hospitals, divesting themselves of their assets and lining their own pockets,” the senators said.

“Enough is enough. It’s time for Dr. de la Torre to step off his yacht and explain to Congress how much he has gained financially by bankrupting the hospitals he runs,” Sanders and Markey said.

Several Steward hospitals were forced to close their doors. Others could not pay their health care providers or purchase products. Now, communities across the country face the possibility of losing their local hospitals.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story