Senate approves criminal contempt resolution against Steward Health Care CEO

BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate approved a resolution Wednesday intended to hold Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt for failing to testify before a Senate panel.

The senate approved the measure by unanimous consent.

Members of a Senate committee looking into the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care adopted the resolution last week after de la Torre refused to attend a committee hearing last week despite being issued a subpoena. The resolution was sent to the full Senate for consideration.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said de la Torre’s decision to defy the subpoena gave the committee little choice but to seek contempt charges.

The criminal contempt resolution refers the matter to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena.

A representative for de la Torre did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sanders said he wanted de la Torre to explain how at least 15 patients at hospitals owned by Steward died as a result of a lack of medical equipment or staffing shortages and why at least 2,000 other patients were put in “immediate peril,” according to federal regulators.

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