The collapse of the Steward Healthcare hospital system in Massachusetts and across the nation is expected to be the focus of a Senate hearing in Washington, DC, on Thursday.
The hearing, scheduled for 10 a.m., is scheduled to take place even though Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre has said he will not appear to testify. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who chairs the committee hosting the hearing, said Wednesday he is prepared to hold de la Torre in contempt if he fails to appear despite being subpoenaed.
“This is not going to go away,” Sanders said. “We’re going to pursue it relentlessly.”
“He chose not to attend because he doesn’t want to explain to the American people how horrific his greed has become,” Sanders added. “Tell me about your yacht. Tell me about your fishing boat. I want to hear the justification. Tell that to the communities whose employees were laid off while you made $250 million.”
De la Torre’s lawyers said he will not testify before the committee investigating the Dallas-based hospital company because a federal court order prohibits him from making any statements during the ongoing restructuring and settlement efforts.
Two members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association are scheduled to testify at a joint hearing Thursday hosted by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which is investigating Steward Hospital’s bankruptcy and the impact its management decisions have had on the delivery of patient care.
The hearing will be streamed live on the committee’s website.
Senator Elizabeth Warren will appear in studio to discuss many pressing issues, including the immigration crisis, the housing crisis, the presidential election, the Steward Health bankruptcy and her own reelection campaign. Follow NBC10 Boston: https://instagram.com/nbc10boston https://tiktok.com/@nbc10boston https://facebook.com/NBC10Boston https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston
Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, one of Steward’s most vocal critics, released a report ahead of Thursday’s hearing that he said highlights the company’s mismanagement, focusing on patient and employee experience, hospital quality data and information on hospital closures in Massachusetts and across the country.
In the report, Markey wrote, “The use of hospitals for get-rich-quick schemes is a powder keg for real health care delivery…. Steward Healthcare, backed by Cerberus Capital Management and Medical Properties Trust, has preyed on the hospitals that communities rely on. Its misconduct is reflected in the staggering costs that communities, workers and patients are paying for Steward’s greed. Communities are paying the price with the closure of vital health care facilities. Workers are sacrificing their livelihoods. Patients are sacrificing their lives.”
Kearney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer were closed as of 7 a.m. Saturday. Follow NBC10 Boston: https://instagram.com/nbc10boston https://tiktok.com/@nbc10boston https://facebook.com/NBC10Boston https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston
Despite the approval of the sale of Steward Hospital, state health officials say they are preparing for a difficult road ahead and are working to stay engaged with the community that lost the facility.
Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said Wednesday that in addition to closing Kearney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is in the early stages of eminent domain proceedings to take over St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Brighton and is dealing with uncertainty surrounding Norwood Hospital, a Steward facility not involved in the bankruptcy proceedings.
“Though we are getting closer and closer to resolving this very difficult situation, I know there are more challenges ahead,” Goldstein told the Public Health Council meeting, without giving specific examples. “I have confidence in the incredible team I’ve had the honor of working with over the months as we’ve addressed these issues. But whatever arises, I know we have the systems, the people, the expertise and the determination to deal with it.”
Dr Greg Meyer, who has been leading the state’s response to the Steward unrest, said the situation “remains precarious.”
“It’s volatile, it’s uncertain, it’s complicated, it’s ambiguous,” said a senior official at Massachusetts General Hospital at the Brigham. “It’s really the perfect environment to implement public health measures and emergency plans to keep us safe.”
The state did not step in to stop the closure of Kearney Hospital in Dorchester or Nashoba Valley Hospital in Ayer, which Governor Healey said was due to the hospitals not receiving qualified bids from new operators. The Healey administration previously said that after the hospitals closed at the end of August, ambulances would be stationed at both Kearney and Nashoba hospitals 24/7 for a week to triage and transport patients seeking emergency care.
In Dorchester, ambulance service has been extended for another week, through Saturday morning, as patients continue to learn about the closure of Kearney Hospital, a DPH spokesperson said. Thirty patients who sought treatment at Kearney Hospital have been transferred to other hospitals since Aug. 31. Ambulance service was not extended in Ayer due to “low patient volumes,” the spokesperson said.
After weeks of negotiations, the sale of four Steward Health Care hospitals has been completed, but the sale of two other facilities is still in progress.
Meyer said the agency will launch “a number of initiatives” in the coming weeks to continue its engagement in the Nashoba and Kearney areas, as well as the Merrimack Valley, where two Steward hospital facilities are scheduled to be turned over to new owners. Meyer said these programs and policies are aimed at helping address the ripple effects of Steward’s bankruptcy.
“We should never let a crisis go to waste,” he said, “and in this case, this provides an opportunity to really rethink and reimagine health care for the communities that have been impacted. This is not something we wanted, but it’s here before us. So we look forward to seeing what comes out of all of this, a better health care system and a brighter future for these communities and the patients and the health care providers in these regions, so that we can practice medicine the way we’ve always wanted to and ensure public health despite all the challenges that we face.”
Goldstein said health officials are focused on ensuring medical care is available to residents around Norwood Hospital, which was closed after severe flooding in 2020. Construction on the new hospital was set to begin in late 2021 but was halted earlier this year.
“Norwood Hospital continues to operate several outpatient facilities, including care for cancer patients and those needing rehabilitation services,” Goldstein said. “We are working hard to keep these facilities and programs operating to prevent interruptions in care for our patients and to support our community.”
State regulators, including DPH and the Health Policy Commission, must still scrutinize the sale of six Steward hospitals approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez. Normally, the process could take months, but DPH has already expedited the process of shutting down essential services this summer after Steward defied the state’s 120-day notice requirement.
The Associated Press and State House News Service contributed to this report.
