2 MA Hospitals Set To Close Amid Steward Health Care Bankruptcy

MASSACHUSETTS — Officials across the state are reacting to the news that Steward Health Care's intends to close two Massachusetts hospitals in the wake of its bankruptcy.

The Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer will be closing, the company said this week, two months after it said it planned to sell off all its hospitals.

A Senate committee voted Thursday to authorize an investigation into the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care and to subpoena the company’s CEO, Dr. Ralph de la Torre.

The subpoena would compel de la Torre to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at a hearing on Sept. 12.

De la Torre had declined a June 25 invitation to testify by committee Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the committee's top Republican. De la Torre also refused invitations to testify at a Boston field hearing chaired by Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts.

Sanders said the Steward bankruptcy shows the dangers of allowing private equity executives to make huge amounts of money by taking over hospitals, loading them up with debt and stripping their assets.

"Perhaps more than anyone else in America, a dubious distinction no doubt, Ralph de la Torre, CEO of Steward Health Care, epitomizes the type of outrageous corporate greed that is permeating throughout our for-profit health care system," Sanders said.

In response to the news of the closures Friday, Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey said that "This is not over."

She continued: "It’s regrettable that Ralph de la Torre and Steward’s greed and mismanagement are resulting in the closures of Carney and Nashoba Valley hospitals. These hospitals have long served their communities – their closures are about more than the loss of beds, doctors, and nurses. We want to assure the people of Massachusetts that we have prepared diligently for this moment and will take all available steps to help facilitate a smooth transition for impacted patients and employees."

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has repeatedly called out the harms of private equity ownership on health care costs and quality of care, added in part that the announcement is "outrageous" and that "De la Torre and Steward's entire executive team need to be stripped from their roles at the company, and investigated for any wrongdoing."

Just yesterday, Senator Edward J. Markey, chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, voted to subpoena Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre to appear before the HELP Committee on September 12 and answer for the business practices of Steward Health and its alleged mismanagement of hospitals around the country.

"To the health care workers impacted by Steward's decisions: I am grateful for your continued work to serve your patients," Markey said Friday. "You are doing God’s work. To the communities who rely on these hospitals: these hospitals are still open, and I will keep working to make sure your access to care is protected."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.