Romney Delivers Remarks at Health Committee Hearing on Bankruptcy of Steward Health Care

• 09.12.2024
• Tags:Healthcare

Romney Delivers Remarks at Health Committee Hearing on Bankruptcy of Steward Health Care

Calls events under CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre's leadership "reprehensible," highlights harm done to operations and patients at five Utah hospitals

WASHINGTON-During a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing today on the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) denounced the blatant mismanagement at Steward-under the leadership of CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre-which led to major operational failures and jeopardized patient care in hospitals across the nation, including five in Utah. The Senator's remarks come after the HELP Committee approved a HELP investigation into Steward's bankruptcy and a subpoena to compel Dr. de la Torre to testify on its impact on patients, providers, and local communities.

In 2017, Steward Health Care acquired five Utah-based hospital facilities, serving patients in Layton, West Jordan, West Valley, Lehi, and Salt Lake City. In February 2023, Steward sold its Utah health care sites to CommonSpirit Health. Shortly after the sale was finalized, several lawsuits were filed by Utah vendors, laborers, and investors-as well as the Utah Assistant Attorney General-against Steward for a combined $3.4 million in unsettled debts. Additionally, three separate lawsuits were filed in Utah against Steward by investors who claim that Steward used the profits from selling its five Utah-based hospitals to pay bills in other states, seeking a combined $40 million in damages.

A transcript of Senator Romney's remarks can be found below and video can be found here.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Cassidy. I appreciate the testimony we've heard and your willingness to bring this to our attention in a very clear and convincing way. Obviously, the events that took place under Mr. de la Torre's management at Glenwood and other facilities across the country, including by the way, five hospitals in Utah, was reprehensible and never should have happened.

Steward was operating in my state from 2017 to 2023. They understaffed health care facilities. They didn't pay for 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 to vendors in my state. And most importantly, they endangered lives.

And it's hard to calculate precisely how many lives have been seriously affected or worse as a result of their mismanagement. And clearly this kind of unusual setting warrants careful and thorough federal review. HHS, at the federal level, is responsible for conducting oversight to combat waste, fraud and abuse. It appears that all three were involved at Steward.

And I appreciate Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Cassidy for bringing the issue before our committee, but I regret we don't have someone here from the administration, either this administration or the prior administration, to talk about, "okay, what should HHS be doing? How can we oversee, particularly in the case of hospitals in rural areas, that this doesn't happen?"

And is there something that needs to be done at the federal level to make sure that levels of care are being provided? Is there something done at the state level?