Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre resigns after refusing Senate testimony
Ralph de La Torre sues U.S. Senate committee which has voted to hold him in contempt for refusing to testify about Steward’s financial troubles.
The CEO of American hospitals company Steward Healthcare, Ralph de la Torre, is expected to resign the helm of the now-bankrupt hospital property company 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.
Procedures on the company’s bankruptcy remain ongoing, with related criminal proceedings in Malta embroiling former prime minister Joseph Muscat and a raft of ministers, civil servants, and private operators over the alleged fraud when Steward was granted a controversial PPP for three state hospitals.
The company is currently seeking to sell all of its remaining hospitals in America to address its $9 billion debt.
The resignation comes shortly after the United States Senate held de la Torre in contempt of court for refusing to testify in a case involving his company.
On Monday, de La Torre sued a U.S. Senate committee which has voted to hold him in contempt for refusing to testify about Steward’s financial troubles.
De le Torre said in his lawsuit that the contempt vote was an unconstitutional attempt to coerce his testimony. He seeks a court ruling declaring that he cannot be punished for asserting his Fifth Amendment rights or be compelled to comply with the subpoena.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions violated de la Torre’s right against self-incrimination under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment by threatening him with “criminal retribution” and “public humiliation,” according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Washington, D.C., federal court.
The Senate committee hearing, which probed cost-cutting decisions at Steward hospitals, was “simply a device for the Committee to attack Dr. de la Torre and try to publicly humiliate and condemn him,” according to the lawsuit.
De la Torre declined to testify even after the committee issued a subpoena, saying that answering questions could violate his rights and impede Steward’s bankruptcy reorganisation.
The full Senate voted to hold de la Torre in contempt on September 25 for skipping the hearing. Democratic and Republican members of the committee said that the testimony highlighted the dangers of allowing private health care companies to prioritise profits over patients.
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