VIDEO: Ranking Member Cassidy on Committee Vote to Subpoena Steward Health CEO, Owner of Glenwood Regional Medical Center
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, gave remarks on the HELP Committee vote to subpoena Steward Health CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre to testify on the company’s financial mismanagement of its hospitals. The Committee approved the subpoena on a bipartisan vote of 16-4.
“Dr. de la Torre’s poor financial decisions and gross mismanagement of its hospitals is shocking. Patients’ lives are at risk. The American people deserve answers,” said Dr. Cassidy. “The decision to subpoena Steward did not come lightly. But the situation is actively impacting patients in the communities we represent. Congress has a responsibility to act.”
“My goal is to ensure residents in the community served by Steward hospitals like Glenwood in Louisiana receive the care they need, and to get to the bottom of these problems to make sure they do not happen again,” continued Dr. Cassidy.
Click here to watch Cassidy’s opening remarks before the Committee vote.
See below for the remarks as prepared for delivery.
Thank you, Chair Sanders.
Today, we are voting to subpoena the testimony of Steward Health Care Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ralph de la Torre. The HELP Committee has never issued a subpoena to compel testimony. There is a reason for doing so now. Subpoenas should only be used when absolutely necessary. When all other efforts have failed.
The subpoena we are voting on today meets that criteria.
In 2010, private equity firm Cerberus (“Sir-beh-rus") Capital Management purchased a group of failing hospitals in Massachusetts, saving them from bankruptcy and preserving access to care for the communities they served. They formed Steward in a joint venture with Dr. de la Torre and his executive management team to manage the hospitals, which became the largest private, for-profit hospital operator in the United States.
The hospitals were successful, due in part to Cerberus (“Sir-beh-rus") investing hundreds of millions of dollars in facilities and resources. Cerberus (“Sir-beh-rus") also assumed hundreds of millions of dollars in pension liabilities. However, Dr. de la Torre remained responsible for the management of Steward and its day-to-day operations.
From 2015 on, Steward under Dr. de la Torre’s leadership began to expand at an unsustainable rate. In 2016, Dr. de la Torre made the questionable financial decision to sell Steward’s real estate holdings to Medical Property Trust (MPT) and have Steward hospitals lease them back. That deal allegedly earned Dr. de la Torre and his executive team a large payday.
From there, his bad management decisions continued. In 2018, Steward entered into a public-private partnership with the country of Malta to run a number of hospitals in Malta. This deal is now under investigation by the Department of Justice over allegations of fraud and corruption.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and disagreements with Steward management, Cerberus (“Sir-beh-rus") sold its controlling ownership stake in the company in June 2020 to a group of physicians led by Dr. de la Torre.
To secure the funds to purchase Cerberus’ (“Sir-beh-rus") controlling interest, Dr. de la Torre secured a loan from MPT. The buyout allegedly earned him a $100 million dividend.
While Dr. de la Torre was paying himself millions, Steward fell behind on its mortgage payments, owing approximately $50 million in January 2024 or one-half of the dividend Dr. de la Torre received. In May, Steward filed for bankruptcy, publicly declaring debts of approximately $9 billion.
We must learn more about these financial deals because it spelled the beginning of the end for Steward and its more than 30 hospitals across the country, including in my home state of Louisiana.
Stepping back, it is important to recognize that Steward is not a private equity firm. Private equity did not cause the situation we are seeing today. In fact, robust private equity investment kept the hospitals afloat in 2010.
I'm a doctor and I understand that to make the right prescription requires a correct diagnosis. Blaming private equity for Steward’s mismanagement is not productive. It ignores that private equity invested hundreds of millions of dollars into failing hospitals, made them successful, and then sold them to a private management team which was not private equity. So, let's make the correct diagnosis here if we're going to come up with the correct solution.
Steward’s financial troubles have seriously impacted its hospitals, threatening patients’ access to lifesaving care. Hospitals have had essential medical supplies repossessed by banks to pay off Steward’s debts. Workers at its facilities have been laid off, leading to a reduction of outpatient services and an increased burden on the remaining staff.
One facility affected by Steward’s mismanagement is Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe, LA. According to a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a physician at Glenwood told a Louisiana state inspector that the hospital was performing “third-world medicine.”
Because of management decisions resulting in limited resources at Glenwood, the state had to force the hospital to operate at one-third its capacity. One patient died while waiting for a transfer to another hospital because Glenwood did not have the resources to treat them.
Inevitably, nearby hospitals absorb that burden, straining those facilities’ ability to deliver quality care. Addressing this must be a top priority.
It was reported this week that someone may purchase Glenwood. While this needs to be approved by a bankruptcy judge, it is a good sign. Now, we need answers about how Glenwood got to this point.
Unfortunately, Glenwood is not unique. At a Steward-owned Massachusetts hospital, a woman died after giving birth when doctors realized mid-surgery that the supplies needed to treat her were previously repossessed due to Steward’s financial troubles. These tragic examples can be found at Steward hospitals across the country.
Dr. de la Torre and his executive teams’ poor financial decisions and gross mismanagement of its hospitals is shocking. Patients’ lives are at risk. The American people deserve answers.
On June 25, Chair Sanders and I asked Steward CEO Dr. de la Torre to testify before the Committee. He refused without further discussion, nor did he counter with another date. He did not offer another company official to appear. Let me be clear, the Committee would have been open to working with Steward to ensure their cooperation. They ended the negotiation before it started.
The decision to subpoena Steward did not come lightly. But the situation is actively impacting patients in the communities we represent. Congress has a responsibility to act.
Patients shouldn’t be turned away or denied care because of Dr. de la Torre’s irresponsible business practices. My goal is to ensure residents in the community served by Steward hospitals like Glenwood in Louisiana receive the care they need, and to get to the bottom of these problems to make sure they do not happen again.
This is our top priority.
I thank Chair Sanders for his collaboration in our bipartisan investigation, and I urge my colleagues to support this subpoena.
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