Massachusetts’ two United States senators have called for Steward Health Care’s controversial CEO to be held in contempt if he fails to appear on Capitol Hill for a hearing next week.
Steward’s boss, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, has said he’s going to ignore a subpoena ordering him to appear before the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which is probing the Dallas-based company’s financial collapse.
The panel is scheduled to meet in Washington on Sept. 12. Lawmakers plan to hold a seat open for de la Torre, just as they did when he skipped a hearing on Beacon Hill earlier this year.
During a press conference in Boston on Thursday, Democratic U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren vowed that de la Torre would be held accountable for the chain’s bankruptcy, even as they said he and other executives enriched themselves and lived a high-flying lifestyle.
Steward owns hospitals in Massachusetts and other states. Three of its Bay State facilities since have closed, and others are in the process of being sold to new owners.
“Ralph de la Torre has shown contempt for our healthcare system, now the U.S. Senate must bring contempt charges,” Markey, who sits on the Senate panel, and chairs one of its subcommittees, said.
Warren, who has been a vocal critic of Steward’s private equity owners, and has joined Markey in calls for reform and increased oversight, noted that subpoenas by congressional committees are “exceedingly rare.”
“But it is not an invitation. It is an order,” the Cambridge Democrat said.
Markey and Warren were joined at Wednesday’s news conference by U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, who represents communities with Steward hospitals, including Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, which shut down over the weekend.
Carney Hospital in Dorchester also closed.
Read More: With Steward hospitals about to close, two Mass. communities brace for the worst
Labor leaders representing nurses and other workers across the Steward system also were in attendance.
Through his attorney, de la Torre shot down the Senate committee’s request on Wednesday, denouncing it as a “pseudo-criminal proceeding,” that would be used “not to gather facts, but to convict [him] in the eyes of public opinion.”
Through that same attorney, de la Torre asked for the hearing to be delayed until the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, which started in May, and continue to wend their way through the courts, are finished.
In July, Markey’s committee voted to authorize an investigation into the company’s bankruptcy and to subpoena de la Torre.
On Thursday, Markey could not offer a concrete timeline for a vote on a possible contempt resolution, which would have to clear his committee and get a vote from the full U.S. Senate.
Nor could Markey say whether it would be a criminal or civil resolution.
He did say, however, that Democrats were working across the aisle with the committee’s Republicans on the issue.
“We’re working with Republicans to send the strongest possible message,” Markey said, adding that lawmakers will “determine the best pathway over the course of the next week.”
The Senate panel’s ranking GOP member, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has Steward facilities in his state, Markey noted.
“The Senate should enforce its subpoena with a contempt resolution,” Warren said. “If he continues to resist, federal marshals can arrest him, and bring him before the committee.”
U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District., speaks during a news conference at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston, on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Trahan and other lawmakers were addressing the financial collapse of Steward Health Care (John L. Micek/MassLive).John L. Micek
While her Senate colleagues have been working on Capitol Hill to pursue regulatory fixes to prevent future Steward-style meltdowns, Trahan said she’s been working on the local level with those directly impacted by the bankruptcy.
Trahan’s district also includes Holy Family Hospital, which has campuses in Methuen and Haverhill.
Those facilities, along with Nashoba Valley, “are pillars of our communities that hardworking families depend on” for healthcare.
“When that access is threatened, it’s not just an inconvenience, it’s a matter of life and death,” she said. “Steward knew this, but decided to prioritize profit over care.”
In a statement, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey tore into de la Torre, saying the hospital executive “lived a life of luxury at the expense of workers and patients at his Steward hospitals.”
“His refusal to testify before the Senate is shameful, but it follows his pattern of complete disregard for his responsibilities,” Healey continued. “The people of Massachusetts deserve answers. I’m grateful to [Sens.] Markey and Warren for their continued efforts to hold Ralph de la Torre accountable.”
Thursday’s news conference came even as a federal bankruptcy court in Texas gave Steward the green light to sell six of its Massachusetts-based facilities.
Judge Christopher Lopez ruled Wednesday that Boston Medical Center can buy St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center and Good Samaritan Medical Center, The Boston Globe reported.
The judge also authorized Lifespan Health System’s acquisition of St. Anne’s Hospital and Morton Hospital, and Lawrence General Hospital’s purchase of Holy Family Hospital, the newspaper reported.
Read More: Mass.’ plan to rescue bankrupt Steward Hospitals may cost $700M
Steward announced last week that it had reached purchase agreements for Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, MassLive previously reported.
The Healey administration also announced the takeover deals for Rhode Island-based Lifespan Corporation and Lawrence General Hospital for its respective Steward properties.
Read More: Mass. lawmakers call for severance for workers at Steward’s Carney, Nashoba Valley hospitals
Healey’s office has said that UMass Memorial Health could convert Nashoba’s shuttered emergency room into an urgent care facility.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66d9f66356d1484d862a289586da7eff&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.masslive.com%2Fpolitics%2F2024%2F09%2Fmass-sens-markey-warren-call-for-contempt-charges-for-steward-boss-de-la-torre.html&c=4194788849209046059&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-05 06:13:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.