As the more than 30 hospitals in the Steward Health Care System scrounged for cash to cover supplies, shuttered pediatric and neonatal units, closed maternity wards, laid off hundreds of health care workers, and put patients in danger, the system paid out at least $250 million to its CEO and his companies, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
The newly revealed financial details bring yet more scrutiny to Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre, a Harvard University-trained cardiac surgeon who, in 2020, took over majority ownership of Steward from the private equity firm Cerberus. De la Torre and his companies were reportedly paid at least $250 million since that takeover. In May, Steward, which has hospitals in eight states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday ordered Steward Health Care not to take immediate action to close a Pennsylvania hospital that is perilously short on funds, while allowing the company to proceed with two just-announced closures in Ohio.
Asante Ashland Community Hospital will not be closing, Asante’s Chief Executive Officer Brandon Mencini confirmed in an email to an unknown number of Asante employees recently, matter-of-factly addressing concerns about the future of Asante Ashland Community Hospital aired by medical professionals at an Ashland City Council meeting last week.
Despite their community-focused missions, the CEOs in charge of these nonprofits command large paychecks, that now top $1 million, on average. And their salaries keep rising.
Less than a month after Ascension announced plans to sell nine Illinois hospitals to Prime Healthcare, the systems are asking the state for permission to close one of those hospitals.
The 49-page report and its accompanying 30-page appendix of sources comprise the first academic summary of Mission's staffing tumult since HCA Healthcare bought the system for $1.5 billion in 2019.