Steward Health CEO Who Refused To Testify In Senate To Step Down

Ralph de la Torre, CEO of Steward Health Care, will step down next week after being held in criminal contempt by the US Senate for refusing to testify about cost-cutting decisions at the company’s 31 hospitals, Lucia Mutikani reported for Reuters.

The Dallas-based company announced that de la Torre would no longer serve as CEO and chairman, under an agreement reached earlier this month. I Photo: Steward Health Care

The Dallas-based company announced that de la Torre would no longer serve as CEO and chairman as of Oct. 1, 2024, under an agreement reached earlier this month.

A spokesperson confirmed that the former heart surgeon "amicably separated from Steward on mutually agreeable terms" and will continue to advocate for improving reimbursement rates for underprivileged patients.

The Senate voted unanimously to hold de la Torre in contempt after he declined to appear at a Sept. 12 hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which was investigating Steward's financial troubles.

The company, the largest privately owned hospital network in the US, filed for bankruptcy in May, citing $9 billion in debt. Since then, Steward has sold several of its hospitals as part of the bankruptcy process.