After the CEO of the 31-hospital, Boston-based Steward Healthcare responded to a subpoena by stating his refusal to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the members of that committee voted unanimously on Sep. 25 to hold him in contempt.
CBS News’s Michael Kaplan wrote on Sep. 26 that “Senators unanimously passed a resolution to hold Ralph de la Torre, the CEO of troubled hospital operator Steward Health Care, in criminal contempt of Congress on Wednesday. De la Torre failed to appear at a hearing where he was subpoenaed to testify on Capitol Hill earlier this month, and the Senate resolution refers the matter to the Department of Justice for prosecution. It marks the first time first time since 1971 that the Senate has held someone in criminal contempt,” he reported. And he quoted Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in their reactions to de la Torre’s announced no-show.
"Dr. de la Torre is not above the law," Sen. Sanders said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. "If you defy a congressional subpoena you will be held accountable no matter who you are or how connected you may be." And Markey, also in remarks before the vote, said that, "Over the past decade, Steward, led by its founder and CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre and his corporate enablers looted hospitals across the country for their own profit. And while they got rich, workers, patients and communities suffered.”
Meanwhile, late on Sep. 25, the Associated Press’s Steve Leblanc reported that “Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said de la Torre’s decision to defy the subpoena gave the committee little choice but to seek contempt charges. The criminal contempt resolution refers the matter to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena. A representative for de la Torre did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sanders said he wanted de la Torre to explain how at least 15 patients at hospitals owned by Steward died as a result of a lack of medical equipment or staffing shortages and why at least 2,000 other patients were put in “immediate peril,” according to federal regulators.”
And the Washington Post’s Dan Diamond noted on Sep. 26 that “It is the first time since 1971 that the Senate has asked the Justice Department to pursue criminal contempt charges against an individual, lawmakers said. Steward, a for-profit company that owns about two dozen hospitals across the country, is engaged in bankruptcy proceedings and has been seeking to sell its hospitals. Community leaders and health workers in states served by Steward’s facilities have blamed the company’s leaders for extravagant paydays even as hospitals struggled to meet mortgage payments and cover other expenses,” he wrote. “The Justice Department also has been investigating the company regarding allegations of fraud.”
Diamond also quoted Sen. Markey as stating that “Steward, led by its founder and CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre and his corporate enablers, looted hospitals across the country for their own profit. While they got rich, workers, patients and communities suffered,” he said. “Nurses paid out of pocket for cardboard bereavement boxes for the babies to help grieving parents who had just lost a newborn.”
But, Diamond wrote, “Rebecca Kral, a spokeswoman for de la Torre, said her client had declined to comply with the Senate’s subpoena by invoking his Fifth Amendment rights not to answer questions.” “Dr. de la Torre will not be intimidated by the Committee’s threat of prosecution merely for asserting his constitutional protections,” Kral wrote in an email early Thursday. “The U.S. Constitution stands above the government to protect all Americans from precisely the kind of assault on our rights that we are witnessing here.”
In a Sep. 25 report, The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel wrote that “The matter will now be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute Ralph de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena. It marks the first time since 1971 that the Senate has held someone in criminal contempt. Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor and could be penalized with fines or imprisonment.” Weixel noted that “Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee — said de la Torre is dodging accountability. They want him to answer questions about how Steward managed its hospitals, as well as how he was able to reap millions of dollars even as the system was failing.” And he quoted Sen. Cassidy as saying on the Senate floor that “I think it’s unfortunate that we are here, but if someone shows contempt for the American people by defying a subpoena and refusing to provide answers, that is a contemptible thing. Congress has responsibility to act.”
