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Ralph de la Torre, who runs Steward Health Care, said he won't go to a Senate meeting next week, even though he was ordered to. The Senate is looking into how his company went bankrupt and is now trying to sell its hospitals.
Ralph de la Torre Refuses Senate Testimony
De la Torre's lawyer wrote a letter saying the Senate hearing is more about making de la Torre look bad than finding out the truth. They argue that talking about the case now isn't fair because there's a rule stopping de la Torre from discussing it while the court is working on a settlement, according to CBS News.
Steward Health Care, which owns around 30 hospitals across the country, including seven in Massachusetts, went bankrupt earlier this year. They tried to sell hospitals in Massachusetts but didn't get good offers for Carney Hospital in Boston and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, so those hospitals had to close recently.
Federal prosecutors are also checking if Steward Health Care did something wrong, like fraud or corruption. They are looking into how de la Torre managed the company and why it ended up with a huge debt of about $9 billion.
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Steward Health Care's Bankruptcy
Senator Bernie Sanders, who leads the Senate committee, is disappointed that de la Torre isn't coming to the meeting, according to Fortune. Sanders thinks de la Torre is part of a big problem where companies get rich by taking advantage of hospitals and then sell them off, leaving them with huge debts.
Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts are also upset and think de la Torre should be punished if he doesn't come to the Senate meeting. They believe he should answer for how he managed the hospitals and used their money.
The Senate is trying to figure out how to make de la Torre testify. They might fine him or even send him to jail if he keeps refusing. De la Torre's lawyers haven't said if he will testify later, but they want to wait until the bankruptcy case is over. Meanwhile, Sanders and the other senators are determined to get answers and make sure Steward Health Care's problems are fully investigated.
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