Steward blasted for management of troubled Mass. hospitals

Steward Health Care chief executive Ralph de la Torre left Massachusetts more than five years ago when he moved the headquarters of his for-profit hospital system from Boston to Dallas. But his absence was never more noted than on Wednesday, when Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren slammed the embattled Steward chief for not testifying at a Senate panel’s “field hearing” in Boston. The meeting was focused on the precarious state of cash-strapped Steward hospitals and the rise of private equity in health care. While de la Torre has become a wealthy man, and buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management reaped an $800 million profit from its investment in Steward, the company has missed payments to vendors and is scrambling to sell its eight Massachusetts hospitals, including St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton and Carney Hospital in Dorchester. “Dr. de la Torre’s chair is as empty as the promises he made,” Markey told a crowded hearing of his subcommittee of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which convened in the State House on Beacon Hill. “Cerberus made more than $800 million in profit,” he said. “Dr. de la Torre is still sailing on his yacht.” Markey cited de la Torre’s pledge to state regulators and health care leaders in 2010 to upgrade the community hospitals, create a low-cost system, and improve care with a cash infusion from Cerberus. He said de la Torre and Cerberus “sold themselves as saviors” when they struck a partnership to buy the Massachusetts hospitals in 2010 from their nonprofit operator, Caritas Christi Health Care, promising to strengthen the hospitals and provide quality health care. Warren was similarly unsparing, repeatedly calling de la Torre a coward for declining an invitation to testify before the subcommittee in Boston. A spokesperson for Steward declined to respond to the senators’ criticisms or explain why de la Torre declined the senators’ invitation to take part in the hearing. The company has previously said it is doing its best to operate within a challenging market for community hospitals, citing factors including relatively low insurance reimbursement rates at such facilities. Markey and Warren are introducing Senate bills seeking to bring tougher oversight, and more transparency and accountability to private equity transactions involving health care providers. But it’s not yet clear how much support the measures can gain in a divided Congress. — ROBERT WEISMAN and TRAVIS ANDERSEN