The announcement was bipartisan and came from both the committee’s chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and ranking committee member Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), a sign of how angry lawmakers are about Steward’s situation.
“Given that Steward’s bankruptcy and financial arrangements have caused serious harm and uncertainty to hospitals, patients and health care workers across the country, Dr. de la Torre had no choice but to compel him to testify at this hearing,” Sanders and Cassidy said in a joint statement.
Steward is a for-profit hospital chain that operates more than 30 facilities in eight states. The company filed for bankruptcy in May and is attempting to sell its assets.
The case has brought increased scrutiny of the role of private equity firms in the health care sector.
Backed by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, Steward has rapidly acquired hospitals across the United States since 2010.
Cerberus then sold all of the hospital land to a real estate investment firm for more than $1 billion and agreed to lease it back for millions of dollars per year in rent.
Steward allegedly used the proceeds from the deal to further expand its existing hospitals rather than invest in them. Cerberus also paid “substantial” dividends to its executives, ultimately making a profit of about $800 million from the deal.
Steward blamed the bankruptcy on high interest rates, labor costs and low compensation from the government.
In a separate statement, Sanders and Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said Del Torre had previously been asked to appear before Congress to testify about Steward’s mismanagement but had “arrogantly refused.”
“Perhaps more than anyone in America, Steward Healthcare CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre epitomizes the outrageous corporate greed that permeates our for-profit health care system,” Markey and Sanders said in a joint statement.
