Ralph de la Torre

Early life and education Ralph de la Torre grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Cuban immigrants fleeing from the Cuban Revolution. His parents were both of medical backgrounds, his mother a nurse and his father a cardiologist, once the head of internal medicine at General Calixto Garcia University Hospital in Havana.

Career

Cardiac surgeon In 1999, de la Torre accepted a position at Boston Medical Center as a cardiac surgeon. He moved to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) the next year. In 2007, he founded BIDMC's CardioVascular Institute, and acted as its first CEO until the next year. the Archdiocese created an independent board of directors which began its search for a new CEO. Following his interview with the board, Caritas offered de la Torre the position. Despite the short-term success, de la Torre believed Caritas' long-term prospects depended on a significant cash infusion—particularly to preserve jobs and fund the system's pension plan, which was uninsured and had been frozen due to lack of contributions by Caritas. De la Torre sought potential investors, and in 2009 met with Robert Nardelli, an executive at private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and former CEO of Chrysler and Home Depot. Nardelli was impressed with de la Torre's energy and expertise, describing him as having a "tremendous edge." The conversation led to a formal proposition for Cerberus to purchase Caritas and convert the system to for-profit.

In 2020, de la Torre led a group of physicians in purchasing the entirety of Cerberus' stake in Steward.

Steward bankruptcy In July 2024, the United States Senate HELP Committee voted 16–4 to issue its first subpoena since 1981, compelling de la Torre to testify to his role in the financial collapse of Steward on September 12. This followed two declined invitations to testify voluntarily in April and June. However, in the first days of September, de la Torre's attorney responded to the subpoena on his behalf, describing the requested hearing as a "pseudo-criminal proceeding" aimed at convicting "Dr. de la Torre in the eyes of public opinion." He further requested the panel to reschedule the hearing, requesting that it be held off until after the company's bankruptcy had completed, as his testimony "may run afoul of the federal court order prohibiting him from discussing [...] mediation efforts." Despite this, the committee proceeded with the hearing. Consistent with his submitted response, de la Torre did not appear at the hearing as required. On September 19, the committee held two votes, one each for criminal and civil enforcement of the subpoena. Both resolutions passed in a unanimous 20–0 vote, sending them to the full Senate for a final vote. Only one senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, abstained. In response to the votes, one of de la Torre's attorneys accused the committee of seeking to "frame Dr. de la Torre as a criminal scapegoat for the systemic failures in Massachusetts’ health care system." They further stated that de la Torre was barred from answering questions regarding Steward's bankruptcy by court order. The Senate HELP Committee first addressed de la Torre's Fifth Amendment concerns in a September 5 reply letter to his attorney, one week before the hearing:

De la Torre submitted his resignation to the Steward Board of Directors in late September 2024, effective October 1. In a statement, his spokesperson said:

De La Torre v. Sanders et al On September 30, 2024, de la Torre's last day as Steward CEO, de la Torre filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Senate HELP Committee and all but one of its members (Senator Rand Paul, the only member of the committee to abstain from the September 19 contempt vote [see below]), alleging that they were "collectively undertaking a concerted effort to punish Dr. de la Torre for invoking his Fifth Amendment right."

Controversy and criticism Implication in 2019 Malta political crisis Following Steward's failed venture in Malta, an April 2024 Maltese magistrate report implicated Steward executives, including de la Torre, in an alleged bribery scheme involving multiple Maltese officials. Though magistrate's report recommended charges against de la Torre including those of bribery, fraud, and misappropriation, as of September 2024 Maltese officials have yet to formally charge him. However, CBS News reported in July that the office of the U.S. Attorney in Boston was investigating Steward as a whole for, among other things, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. A Steward spokesperson later confirmed this, declining to comment further. Further, whistleblower Ram Tumuluri in September reported to the U.S. Congress that "de la Torre boasted that he could issue 'brown bags' [of cash] to government officials if necessary to close transactions." Steward publicly responded, saying that Steward Health Care International operated "in a lawful and transparent manner throughout the period in which the company was operating Malta." They further asserted that there was "no basis to accuse Dr. de la Torre of anything." At several junctures, the Globe and OCCRP found evidence of Steward capital being paid specifically to ventures owned by de la Torre or for what appeared to be personal benefit.

In one instance in 2022, de la Torre presented a $10 million donation to Greenhill School, a private preparatory school which his sons attended. According to the school, the donation, which funded the creation of a new science center to be named after de la Torre's mother, originated from the "de la Torre Family Foundation." However, no such foundation was found to have existed. Instead, tax filings found that the donation came from Steward Health Care, which donated $3 million more in 2023. Subsequently, the contract to manage construction of the science center went to Cref, a company in which de la Torre purchased a 40% stake in 2021 with funds from Steward International and which shared a Dallas office space with Steward.

Contempt by Senate HELP Committee The United States Senate HELP Committee unanimously voted to hold Dr. de la Torre in contempt for his failure to testify on the closure of Steward's hospitals and their financial situation pre-closure. Dr. de la Torre responded by suing the committee and each of its members (with the exception of Rand Paul, the only member to abstain).