Washington (May 6, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, released the following statement on the one-year mark since Steward Health Care declared bankruptcy. In September 2024, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to refer Steward Health CEO Ralph de la Torre for criminal contempt of Congress for failing to respond to a subpoena issue by the Senate HELP committee, a step taken by the Senate for the first time in more than 50 years.

“One year ago, Steward Health Care declared bankruptcy after being driven into financial crisis by the rapacious greed of private equity, real estate investors, and corporate executives. They lined their pockets with money that was torn away from Massachusetts hospitals, health care workers, and patients. In their thirst for yachts, private planes, and cash, they stole years from people’s lives, ripped health care from communities, and caused death. 

“Rather than seeing swift accountability for these crimes, the American people are being failed by a system beholden to corporate greed and CEO profits. Ralph de la Torre continues to walk free, a Cerberus executive serves in the upper ranks of the Trump administration, and Medical Properties Trust continues to gouge rent from health providers. Our health care system is broken, and step one of fixing it is to rid it of malignant corporate greed. But instead of solutions to protect their communities, Republicans in Congress are focused on brutal cuts to Medicaid and propping up a sick care system that doles out profits in return for harming patients. 

“Steward Health Care was not an exception; it was an example. The American people deserve more, and I will fight for my Health Over Wealth Act to put the strongest guardrails on private equity in health care.”

Amidst Steward’s crisis, in July 2024, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced the Health Over Wealth Act, legislation that would put safeguards in place to protect workers, patients, and health care quality, access, and safety; create stronger accountability measures for corporate greed; and close tax loopholes that benefit real estate investment trusts making money off of health care property. In September 2024, Senator Markey unveiled “The Steward Health Care Report: How Corporate Greed Hurt Patients, Health Workers, and Communities.” The report spotlights patient and worker experiences, hospital quality data, and information on hospital closures in Massachusetts and around the country, to document the devastating impacts of Steward’s mismanagement.

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