Hospital CEO Ralph de la Torre invokes Fifth Amendment on eve of Senate contempt vote
The top executive of the bankrupt hospital chain Steward Health Care told senators he will use his Fifth Amendment right to avoid answering questions under a subpoena authorized by a Senate committee.
Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre invoked his right against self-incrimination rather than provide sworn testimony in a "pseudo-criminal proceeding with the goal of convicting (de la Torre) in a court of public opinion," his attorney said in a letter Wednesday to Senate officials.
The letter comes one day before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is scheduled to vote on resolutions seeking civil enforcement and a criminal contempt referral to the United States Attorney because de la Torre refused to appear before the committee under subpoena.
Last week, de la Torre defied a subpoena by not appearing before the bipartisan Senate committee to answer questions about the Dallas-based hospital chain's financial dealings. The hearing featured an empty seat with de la Torre's name placard and testimony from hospital employees and elected officials who described how Steward's hospitals lacked adequate supplies and staffing, endangering some patients.
But in his letter Wednesday, de la Torre reiterated that he "lacks the authority to speak on behalf ofSteward with respect to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and he is prohibited by a federal court order from doing so."
He added last week's hearing was an "ambush" as witnesses advocated he be imprisoned and described him and other Steward executives as "health care terrorists."
He refused to provide sworn testimony during a hearing that cast him "as a criminal scapegoat for the systemic failuresin Massachusetts’ health care system," the letter said.
The hospital chain filed for bankruptcy in May, closed two hospitals in Massachusetts and struck deals to sell other facilities.
Steward Health Care was formed in 2010 when the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management acquired a struggling nonprofit hospital chain from the Archdiocese of Boston. The company aggressively expanded to a chain of more than 30 hospitals employing more than 30,000 people.
The embattled CEO has drawn criticism from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and others for collecting lucrative compensation and purchasing a multimillion dollar yacht and fishing boat even though the hospital chain struggled financially.
Steward sold the land underneath its hospitals to a corporate landlord, Medical Properties Trust. The sale-leaseback deal left the hospitals with hefty rent payments in a move scrutinized by state lawmakers from Massachusetts to Louisiana.
In a bipartisan vote in July, a Senate committee authorized the subpoena mandating de la Torre testify on Sept. 12 to discuss the bankrupt hospital chain's financial dealings.
The Senate HELP committee on Thursday will vote on two resolutions. One would instruct the Senate's counsel to file a U.S. District Court civil suit to require de la Torre to comply with the subpoena. The second resolution would request the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute de la Torre for his failure to appear.