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BumRushDaShow

(142,213 posts) Sat Sep 28, 2024, 07:18 PM Sep 28

Steward Health CEO who refused to testify to US Senate will step down

Source: Reuters

September 28, 2024 3:50 PM EDT Updated 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Ralph de la Torre will step down as CEO of troubled Steward Health Care next week, the company said on Saturday, after he was held in criminal contempt by the U.S. Senate for refusing to testify about cost-cutting decisions at the group's 31 hospitals before it filed for bankruptcy.

In a statement, the Dallas-based company said de la Torre would no longer serve as its CEO and chairman as of Oct. 1 as part of an agreement in principle reached earlier this month. A spokesperson for de la Torre confirmed that the former heart surgeon "has amicably separated from Steward on mutually agreeable terms," and "he will continue to be a tireless advocate for the improvement of reimbursement rates for the underprivileged patient population."

The Senate unanimously voted on Wednesday to hold de la Torre in criminal contempt of Congress after he declined to attend a Sept. 12 hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which was probing Steward's financial troubles. De la Torre had been subpoenaed to attend the hearing.

Steward, the largest privately owned hospital network in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy in May, seeking to sell all of its hospitals and address $9 billion in debt. The company has sold several hospitals since that filing.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/steward-health-ceo-who-refused-testify-us-senate-will-step-down-2024-09-28/

9 replies

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Steward Health CEO who refused to testify to US Senate will step down (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Sep 28 OP

9 billion in debt? oasis Sep 28 #1

Oh, no. Here's the 'crooks' part. 70sEraVet Sep 28 #3

With illgotten millions in his pocket,? Demovictory9 Sep 28 #2

Now he can run for Senate in ForiDUH wolfie001 Sep 29 #5

He will fit right in with those Florida republicans. republianmushroom Sep 29 #7

Yep! wolfie001 Sep 29 #8

First do no harm BigMin28 Sep 28 #4

Once the idea that they can charge whatever they want for whatever they want was discovered... OldBaldy1701E Sep 29 #6

Also, i;m betting they ALL donated to bluestarone Sep 29 #9

oasis

(51,703 posts)

1. 9 billion in debt?

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Sat Sep 28, 2024, 07:22 PM

Sep 28

Goddamn crooks!

70sEraVet

(4,142 posts)

3. Oh, no. Here's the 'crooks' part.

Reply to oasis (Reply #1)

Sat Sep 28, 2024, 08:00 PM

Sep 28

In the months before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as Steward Health Care struggled to pay its bills, the company gave million-dollar payouts to more than a dozen executives, according to court records.
Many executives received hefty salaries and bonuses. But the court documents, and new statements from Steward, also shed light on something else: Executives were reimbursed for making big payments from their personal accounts to help keep the company afloat.
Steward’s chairman and chief executive Ralph de la Torre — a former heart surgeon who launched the company in 2010 — received $5.2 million. This included a salary of about $3.8 million. The other payments include expense reimbursements, as well as $161,000 for “non-business flights.”
......
“If they're scrambling, if creditors aren't getting paid, if suppliers aren't getting paid, if patient care is suffering,” Saini said, “then it really would be important to make sure this was not a corrupt practice in which people are siphoning money off a sinking ship in order to make sure they've feathered their own nest, to hell with anybody else.”

https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/12/steward-health-care-executive-payouts-bankruptcy

Demovictory9

(33,752 posts)

2. With illgotten millions in his pocket,?

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Sat Sep 28, 2024, 07:52 PM

Sep 28

wolfie001

(3,623 posts)

5. Now he can run for Senate in ForiDUH

Reply to Demovictory9 (Reply #2)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 08:24 AM

Sep 29

republianmushroom

(17,612 posts)

7. He will fit right in with those Florida republicans.

Reply to wolfie001 (Reply #5)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 11:18 AM

Sep 29

wolfie001

(3,623 posts)

8. Yep!

Reply to republianmushroom (Reply #7)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 01:47 PM

Sep 29

BigMin28

(1,458 posts)

4. First do no harm

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Sat Sep 28, 2024, 08:01 PM

Sep 28

I guess that oath becomes irrelevant when one goes from being a surgeon to CEO.

OldBaldy1701E

(6,335 posts)

6. Once the idea that they can charge whatever they want for whatever they want was discovered...

Reply to BigMin28 (Reply #4)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 11:14 AM

Sep 29

That oath became completely outdated and irrelevant. Until profit is removed from health care, that oath might as well be said backwards for all it means.

bluestarone

(18,220 posts)

9. Also, i;m betting they ALL donated to

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 03:25 PM

Sep 29

Republicans for YEARS!!

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