The CEO of a hospital operator who filed for bankruptcy Protection in May will resign after failing to testify before a U.S. Senate panel.
Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre oversaw a network of about 30 hospitals across the country. The Texas-based company troubled recent history has attracted the attention of elected officials in New England, where some of its hospitals are located.
A spokesperson for de la Torre told CBS News in a statement Saturday that he “amicably parted ways with Steward on mutually agreeable terms” and “will continue to be a tireless advocate for the improvement of reimbursement rates for the disadvantaged patient population.
The spokesperson added that de la Torre “believes that Steward’s financial challenges highlight Massachusetts’ current failure to repair its health care structure and the inequities of its state system.”
A CBS News investigation which lasted nearly two years showed how private equity investors and de la Torre extracted hundreds of millions of dollars as health care workers and patients struggled to get the vital supplies they needed.
In August, the company closed two Massachusetts hospitalsleaving about 1,200 workers jobless, according to the state.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said earlier this month that Congress “will hold Dr. de la Torre accountable for his greed and the damage it caused to hospitals and patients throughout the process. America.”
Following the announcement of his resignation, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts tweeted that “Massachusetts communities are finally free from Ralph’s destructive reign, but he’s not out of the woods yet – authorities still have to prosecute his contempt charge and investigate him for other possible crimes. could have signed on as CEO of Steward.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, also said in a statement Saturday that the resignation of la Torre is not enough and must be held accountable in court. of law.”
“He extracted hundreds of millions from emergency rooms, operating rooms and intensive care units to buy luxury properties, expensive vacations and yachts, while patients suffered and died and workers and hospitals were under-resourced,” Markey wrote.
De la Torre’s resignation takes effect October 1. The senate approved a resolution Wednesday, this was intended to keep him in custody for criminal contempt for not to testify before a committee.
The Senate committee looked into Steward’s bankruptcy. De la Torre did not appear before him despite a subpoena. The resolution refers the case to a federal prosecutor.
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Earlier this month, CBS News has learned that a whistleblower had come forward to Congress alleging that de la Torre and other Steward executives had illegally conspired with foreign officials to obtain an overseas hospital contract.
In his complaint to Congress, the whistleblower – identified as Ram Tumuluri, a health sector official who worked with the Maltese government – described a 2017 meeting in which de la Torre “insinuated that he corrupted officials of the government of Malta.
