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Ralph de la Torre is a Cuban American health care executive and former cardiac surgeon. The founder, CEO and majority owner of Steward Health Care since 2010, and previously CEO of its predecessor Caritas Christi Health Care starting in 2008, de la Torre also served as the first head of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's CardioVascular Institute from 2007 to 2008.[1][2][3][4] He is currently the subject of an investigation authorized by the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP Committee).[5][6]
Ralph de la Torre M.D. | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1966 or 1967 (age 57–58) |
| Education | |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Title | Founder and CEO of Steward Health Care (2010–present) |
| Spouse | Nicole Acosta |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents |
|
| Notes | |
Early life and education
editRalph 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.[1]
De la Torre received a private school education at The Bolles School from 7th to 12th grade. He graduated from Duke University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. After working for a short time in engineering, he attended a joint program administered by Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he earned his doctorate in medicine and masters in science. He received surgical training from Massachusetts General Hospital, where he met his first wife, Wing Cheung.[1]
Career
editCardiac surgeon
editIn 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.[1] As a surgeon, de la Torre was regarded by many as ambitious and highly talented, and personally as someone with an affinity for luxury.[1]
CEO of Caritas Christi Health Care
editIn 2008, in part with the help of former Partners Healthcare chairman Jack Connors, de la Torre secured a meeting with the new board of directors of Caritas Christi Health Care, a financially struggling eastern Massachusetts health system owned by the Archdiocese of Boston.[1] Caritas' previous CEO had resigned in 2006 following allegations of misconduct.[7] Amid its financial difficulties and following failed attempts to sell the hospital system to another operator,[7] the Archdiocese created an independent board of directors which began its search for a new CEO.[8] Following his interview with the board, Caritas offered de la Torre the position.[1]
De la Torre spent his first year at Caritas restructuring the system, turning its finances from a loss of $20 million in 2008 to an income of $31 million in 2009, even amid the aftermath of the 2007–2008 financial crisis.[9] 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.[10] 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.[1]
CEO of Steward Health Care
editDe la Torre continued at Steward in the same capacity as at Caritas. The transition of a hospital system to for-profit was not without controversy, especially in the context of Massachusetts, a state dominated by non-profit health systems. De la Torre was largely the public face of the company, though throughout his life he has given limited media interviews.[11]
In 2020, de la Torre led a group of physicians in purchasing the entirety of Cerberus' stake in Steward.[11]
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.[5] 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."[6]
Controversy and criticism
editA Boston Globe Spotlight Team report on Steward Health Care, published in the months after Steward declared bankruptcy and authored in concert with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), found several instances in the years leading up to the bankruptcy where under de la Torre's leadership, while patients were suffering injury and dying for reasons attributed by federal regulators to insufficient staffing and supply shortages related to unpaid bills, Steward was instead paying large sums on investor dividends, executive bonuses, private investigators, and non-business-related travel.[12] 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.[13]
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.[13]
In another instance according to bankruptcy filings, about $30 million per year was paid by Steward to Management Health Services (MHS) for "executive oversight and overall strategic directive." MHS, also part-owed by de la Torre, employed at one time 16 people, which included de la Torre and several other Steward executives, as well as the pilots for Steward's three private jets owned through MHS. De la Torre was in 2019 paid $6.3 million by MHS in a 10-month period.[13]
MHS's jets were often found to be used for non-business travel, including to destinations such as San Jose, Costa Rica, where Steward had no official business but where de la Torre owned multiple residences, and to South Africa, where his family spent a week-long vacation. Additionally, Steward International purchased an apartment for de la Torre in Madrid for €8.1 million.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Arsenault, Mark; Kowalczyk, Liz; Weisman, Robert; Piore, Adam (March 29, 2024). "Inside the rise and fall of Steward Health Care's Ralph de la Torre". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ Gerber, Dana (May 6, 2024). "In letter to Steward employees, CEO de la Torre downplays bankruptcy proceedings". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 11, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ Weil, Jonathan (August 18, 2024). "The CEO Who Made a Fortune While His Hospital Chain Collapsed". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ McGrory, Brian (August 7, 2024). "As bankrupt Steward sells and closes hospitals, Ralph de la Torre visits Versailles to watch the Olympics". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ a b Pressman, Aaron (July 25, 2024). "Senate committee demands Steward CEO de la Torre testify". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Toole, Mike (September 4, 2024). "Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre won't testify before Senate panel, calling it "pseudo-criminal proceeding"". CBS News. Archived from the original on September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Stidman, Pete (November 7, 2007). "AG Coakley to review finances of Caritas group". Dorchester Reporter. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ Ngowi, Rodrique (May 21, 2008). "Mass. AG: Church gives up control of hospitals". Daily Report Online. Boston, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ Medsger, Matthew (May 28, 2024). "Steward Health Care failure in Massachusetts predicted by Catholic activists back in 2010". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ Weisman, Robert (May 26, 2024). "An old worry returns for Steward's nurses and retirees: Can they count on their pensions?". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ a b Becker, Deborah (February 6, 2024). "As Steward Health flails, once-supporters of Ralph de la Torre now criticize the CEO". WBUR-FM. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Kowalczyk, Liz; Serres, Chris; Bartlett, Jessica; Koh, Elizabeth; Arsenault, Mark; Jung, Yoohyun (September 2024). "A Globe Spotlight Team report on Steward Health Care". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Krueger, Hanna; Bartlett, Jessica; McCarthy, Brendan (September 3, 2024). "Inside the secret financial dealings of Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.