WASHINGTON - A U.S. Senate committee voted unanimously on Thursday to take steps to hold Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in civil and criminal contempt for defying a Congressional subpoena.
The committee is investigating the bankrupt company that has struggled to sell more than three dozen hospitals that it owns in eight states. Last month, Steward closed two Massachusetts hospitals after it said it could not find qualified bidders for the facilities.
The is the first time the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has ever recommended contempt action against a witness. The resolutions to hold de la Torre in contempt passed 20-0 and will now go before the full Senate for consideration. If held in contempt, de la Torre could face fines or jail time for failing to testify.
Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre refused to testify
De la Torre did not show up to testify to a Sept. 12 hearing where he was subpoenaed to testify.
"For months, this committee has invited Dr. de la Torre to testify about the financial mismanagement and what occurred at Steward Health Care," Committee chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said. "Time after time he has arrogantly refused to appear."
Attorneys for de la Torre sent a letter to the Senate committee Wednesday, saying that he was invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not testify. He has denied any wrongdoing and a spokesperson said the hearings should be postponed until Steward is finished with bankruptcy proceedings.
"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.
CBS News previously reported on how de la Torre and private equity investors have extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from Steward's hospitals while health care workers and patients have struggled to get life-saving supplies. He acquired a 190-foot yacht in 2021 estimated to be worth about $40 million while Steward owners paid themselves millions in dividends.
A federal grand jury in Boston is looking at the pay, spending and travel of de la Torre and other top company executives, a personal familiar with the matter told CBS News.
"Today we are making clear to Dr. de la Torre and the other CEOs, private equity investors and corporate executives who treat the health care system like their own personal piggy bank that your millions do not shield you from accountability to a legal order issued by the United States Senate," Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts said.
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