Partners,

Families USA invites you to join us by signing on to our statement for the record in support of efforts of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), which will hold a hearing on Thursday, September 12 titled, “Examining the Bankruptcy of Steward Health Care: How Management Decisions Have Impacted Patient Care.”

The committee has subpoenaed Steward Health’s CEO and Chairman, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, to testify at the hearing--the first subpoena issued by the HELP Committee since 1981.

While it’s not clear whether de la Torre will appear for the hearing, we view this is an important moment to highlight the harmful role that private equity firms and the broader trend of the corporatization of health care are playing in our health care system, leading to higher health care prices, lower quality care, poor health outcomes for patients, and financial instability for many facilities.

Under Dr. de la Torre’s leadership, Steward Health Care, which owns 31 hospitals in eight states, filed for bankruptcy on May 6 with more than $9 billion in debt. Steward’s financial problems have led to a lack of adequate staffing and supplies, endangering patients. There are also fears that the potential for closures could leave communities without crucial health care services and burden surrounding hospitals. The bankruptcy of Steward Health Care is just one example of the impacts of unchecked health industry consolidation and the proliferation of corporate greed in health care.

We applaud the committees’ efforts to investigate these abuses and urge them to advance policies such as price and ownership transparency, site neutral payments, and more, that will create a healthcare system that works for families, workers, primary care clinicians, employers, and health care consumers.

You can read the full letter here, and to sign on in support by EOD Friday, September 6, click here.

Thank you, and please let me know if you have any questions.

Mike Persley
Strategic Partnerships Campaign Manager
Families USA


Families USA
1225 New York Ave NW
Suite 800
Washington, DC xxxxxx
United States
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