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SALT LAKE CITY — At a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Mitt Romney , R-Utah, denounced the mismanagement at Steward Health Care, which operated around 30 hospitals across the country before declaring bankruptcy in May.
Steward acquired five Utah-based hospitals in Layton, West Jordan, West Valley, Lehi and Salt Lake City in 2017. It sold these acquisitions to CommonSpirit Health in February 2023.
The Dallas-based company prioritized profit over patient care, Romney said. The company faces several lawsuits in Utah.
Steward Health CEO ditches hearing
Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre did not show up to the hearing. His lawyers, in a letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., the chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, declined to adhere to a congressional subpoena that required him to attend.
"It is not within this committee's purview to make predeterminations of alleged criminal misconduct under the auspices of an examination into Steward's bankruptcy proceedings, and the fact that its members have already done so smacks of a veiled attempt to sidestep Dr. de la Torre's constitutional rights," the letter said, according to the Associated Press. His lawyers said de la Torre is open to testifying at a later time when he is not tied up in courts over Steward's bankruptcy.
The HELP Committee will vote on holding de la Torre in contempt of Congress, a misdemeanor that could lead to a fine or time in prison. Sanders, in a post on X, said he would hold de la Torre accountable for refusing to "comply with a congressional subpoena and justify his $250 million payday while he was busy bankrupting hospitals across America."
What did Romney say about Steward Health Care?
During the hearing, Sanders alleged de la Torre grew wealthy by buying hospitals that are "billions of dollars in debt and selling the land underneath these hospitals to real estate executives," per the AP.
In his remarks, Romney also accused de la Torre of mismanaging medical facilities, including the ones in Utah, calling the Steward CEO's actions "reprehensible."
Of the operation in Utah, the Utah senator said Steward "understaffed health care facilities. They didn't pay for the required medical equipment. They failed to meet minimum operating standards. They refused to pay a number of vendors to the tune of about $3.4 million."
"Most importantly, they endangered lives," Romney said. Ellen MacInnis, a nurse at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, in her testimony said nurses were forced to put babies in cardboard boxes, and the hospital often didn't have basic supplies like Similac, Pedialyte and diapers. She also recounted incidents where deaths could have been avoided through proper staffing and required resources.
"This kind of unusual setting warrants careful and thorough federal review," Romney said.
Should Steward Health Care face federal review?
Directing his question at Louisiana state Rep. Michael Charles Echols, Romney asked whether the Department of Health and Human Services should step in to conduct oversight or whether state-level action suffices.
Echols said the Louisiana Health Department began investigating Steward in November 2023, leading to a House hearing in springtime this year. The state agency has "the ability to suspend or terminate the license for the facility, and that's the path we were headed down with this particular situation."
The Louisiana state representative noted some states were more aggressive than others in their approach. Whether it's state or federal government, shutting down a hospital comes with the risk of hurting more people, Echols said. "This is how both private equity and these facilities get away with these schemes," he explained, adding these companies later approach politicians for a bail-out, "which, to me, is part of the broader crime."
Echols said the federal health department can help hold such private entities accountable. "But the question is, is the pain worth more than the punishment?" he said.
