‘Executives put profits over patients’: Sen. Warren wants answers from Steward Health Care leaders

BOSTON — Senator Elizabeth Warren is demanding more accountability from Steward Health Care leadership.

The healthcare network owns 9 hospitals in Massachusetts and reportedly owes $50 million in back rent on those properties. Several Steward-owned hospitals have already shut their doors in the Bay State.

In a release sent out on Monday, Warren says she’s “deeply concerned” about the company’s grave financial woes and wants answers.

“Steward’s explanations for its failings do not add up,” Warren said. “It’s clear that Steward executives put profits over patients and went to great lengths to hide critical information about its financial status from state officials, jeopardizing quality health care for the people of Massachusetts.”

The statement comes less than a week after Massachusetts lawmakers sent a letter to Steward’s CEO Ralph de la Torre requesting him to detail the company’s financial position and what his plan for the state’s hospitals are.

Steward Health Care runs Holy Family Hospital in Methuen and Haverhill, Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Brockton, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton, St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton and Norwood Hospital, which flooded in 2020. Last month, Steward announced its intention to close New England Sinai, a rehab, in April 2024.

“My primary concern is the thousands of patients who face threats to care and the front-line health care workers whose jobs are at risk,” Warren said. “I will continue investigating the decisions that led to this potential public health crisis.”

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