Senator Markey Holds Listening Session on For-Profit Forces in Health Care, Reiterates Invitation to Steward CEO de la Torre to Testify at Congressional Hearing in Boston

To learn more about the impacts of for-profit forces in health care on workers and patients, Senator Markey helda listening session today in Boston

Senator Markey hosting listening session about the impact of for-profit forces in health care

Boston (March 27, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, today held a listening session with Massachusetts state officials, health and labor organizers, and other stakeholders about the impact of profit-driven forces on access to health care. Individuals representing communities that have been impacted by the Steward crisis shared their perspectives ahead of the April 3 Senate HELP Subcommittee field hearing in Boston, entitled, "When Health Care Becomes Wealth Care: How Corporate Greed Puts Patient Care and Health Workers at Risk," which Senator Markey will be chairing.

On March 12, Senator Markey publicly invited Steward Health CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre to testify at the April 3 hearing. Yesterday, on March 26, Senators Markey and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sentanother invitation, urging Dr. de la Torre to testify and noting that it is imperative that the public hear from Steward Health Care leadership.

Previously, on March 7,Senators Markey and Warren sent a letter to Dr. de la Torre requesting financial information, including executive compensation, financial statements, Steward's arrangement with Medical Properties Trust, repayment of debts to Massachusetts, Steward merger and acquisition activity, and loans from Brigade, Soundpoint, and other lenders in 2023.

"I am grateful to the local leaders and health providers who shared how the impacts of corporate wealth on patient health are affecting their communities here in Massachusetts," said Senator Markey. "Steward is emblematic of a national problem that requires a national solution. Next week in Boston, I am chairing a congressional field hearing that will elevate the stories I heard today to spur action for reform across Massachusetts and our nation. We need greater transparency and accountability to guarantee that our country has a health care system, not a wealth care system. Steward Health Care's leaders must answer my calls to testify on April 3. They promised to provide health care - and they owe the public a response as to why they have failed to protect hospitals, patients, and providers."

"From the perspective of nurses and health professionals on the front lines, the entry into our state by these providers - whether it is Steward or Tenet Healthcare - has been bad for patients, workers, and communities. The corporatization and commodification of health care has left a trail of broken promises to both communities and regulatory agencies. It has meant less staff to deliver care, the lack of supplies and resources for those delivering care, and the loss of desperately needed beds and services, often those that serve the most vulnerable patients. We believe the health of residents is not a commodity, and as such, there is no place for private equity and for-profit providers in our state or the nation," said Ellen MacInnis, RN, Member of the Massachusetts Nurses Association Board and Nurse at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center.

"The unfolding crisis over Steward Health Care poses serious threats to access to care for health center patients and communities. Health centers will be there, stepping up with whatever means they have, because by design health centers are responsive to the needs of the communities they serve. Doing their critical work is becoming harder every day due to unprecedented workforce shortages. As we shared with Senator Markey today, we urge policymakers to take a critical eye to how the growth of for-profit health care is contributing to the challenges our system is facing. We look forward to continuing to work with our elected officials at both the federal and state level to address increasing costs and decreasing access to ensure the health and wellbeing of our residents," said Michael Curry, President and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers.

"As we actively monitor the impact of the increase in private equity owned hospitals, we are concerned about business KPIs that may disincentivize patient centric care, worker safety, and quality. We look forward to working with policymakers to ensure we have a regulatory framework that incentivizes responsible business practices that safeguard quality care for vulnerable patient populations, protect community assets, and respect workers' rights," said Tanisha M. Sullivan, President of the NAACP New England Area Conference.

Steward Health Care-which operates nine health care facilities across Massachusetts-is currently facing significant financial insecurity as a result of previously accumulated debt. Steward Health Care was previously owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity company that generated $800 million in profit from Steward. Steward's inability to pay its debt has resulted in financial instability among several of the hospitals it owns in Massachusetts, creating a risk to patients and health providers.

In January 2024, following a Boston Globe report revealing Steward Health Care System's dire financial condition, Senators Markey and Warren led the Massachusetts delegation in a letter to Steward pressing them on their financial position, the status of their facilities in Massachusetts, and their plans to ensure the communities they serve are not abandoned. In December 2022, Senator Markey led members of the Massachusetts delegation in a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to sound the alarm on barriers patients face in accessing health care as a result of closures, service reductions, mergers, and for-profit acquisitions of hospitals in Massachusetts and across the United States.

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