Ralph de la Torre, CEO of Steward Health Care, who oversees around 30 hospitals across the United States, will resign from his position effective October 1 after undergoing careful scrutiny and facing intense lawsuits. The Texas healthcare provider has been operating under bankruptcy protection since May of this year, and de la Torre’s leadership has faced several lawsuits, particularly in the northeastern region where some of its hospitals are located.
Steward Healthcare System Inc. has faced financial troubles since it became operational, affecting the communities its patients come from. In Massachusetts, the company also shut down two of its health centres in August, leading to nearly 1,200 employees losing their jobs. These restructurings were apparent due to lack of finances, which were already a worrying trend raising questions over efficiency in care and even the available equipment to patients or their healthcare support.
His spokesman maintained that he has a mutual separation agreement with the company and will still push for improved payment rates for poor patients. Despite all this, however, criticism has continued to build up concerning how he has been running the company and its finances.
Political and Legal Aspects of Controversy
With regard to de la Torre’s resignation, it is noteworthy that the U.S. Senate is in the process of investigating Steward Health Care bankruptcy. Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with one committee member, must testify before the committee. However, reports indicate that de la Torre did not attend. As a result, the Senate passed a resolution holding de la Torre in contempt for failing to appear before the committee, urging federal prosecutors to take action.
Sen. Sanders criticized de la Torre on leadership issues,, arguig that he would be blamed for the unmet financing and operational challenges of the Steward churches. In the same way, Sen. Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts said the former has left for too long but pointed out that the issue is not over in a legal sense for de la Torre. Similarly, Sen. Ed Markey was of the same view and said that de la Torre had squandered the funds of the hospitals on luxuries while the patients and the employees suffered.
Whistleblower Allegations
The controversy thickened with the emergence of a whistleblower who came to Congress earlier last week claiming that de la Torre and other Steward executives have been engaging in illegal acts meant to obtain a hospital contract outside the borders othe f United States. Ram Tumuluri, a health service executive who had worked with the Maltese government, alleged that in 2017, de la Torre offered in a meeting that he could bribe the officials to obtain the contract.
These allegations have further fueled calls for an in-depth investigation into de la Torre’s actions as CEO. As he is preparing to leave, attention now is directed to the court processes and the continuing investigation by the Senate into the financial affairs of the Steward.
