Senators expected to scorn Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre

Lawmakers will vote to hold Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in contempt of Congress next week after he refused to appear at a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill where he was subpoenaed to testify.

“If someone shows contempt for the American public by not coming to testify both to clear his name, but also to give them insight, that’s a despicable thing,” Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the top Republican. of the Senate committee investigating Steward, CBS News told Thursday’s hearing.

The company, which had owned more than three dozen hospitals in eight states, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and has struggled to find buyers for its facilities. last week, Attorney de la Torre wrote to the committee, said his client would “not participate” in the hearing and insisted that testimony should be delayed until after Steward’s bankruptcy is resolved.

The committee’s chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, refused to adjourn the hearing, where lawmakers also heard from health care workers and local officials in communities affected by Steward’s Bankruptcy.

For almost two years, a CBS News investigation has documented how private investors and de la Torre siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars while health workers and patients struggled to get the life-saving supplies they needed. Last month the company was closed two hospitals in Massachusettsleaving about 1,200 workers unemployed, according to the state.

The decision to compel de la Torre’s testimony is extremely rare — the last subpoena issued by the commission occurred in the 1980s. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a member of the committee, said he considered de la Torre a “fugitive on the run.”

“If he doesn’t show up, he’s defying the law to come forward,” Markey told CBS News. “Therefore, he should be held accountable and held in contempt,” adding that the commission will work on a bipartisan basis to determine whether de la Torre faces criminal or civil penalties for failing to appear.

In addition to congressional scrutiny, Steward is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department. A federal grand jury in Boston is looking into the compensation, spending and travel of the company’s top executives, including de la Torre, a person familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Through a spokesman, de la Torre has denied wrongdoing.

“Dr. de la Torre did everything in his power to help Steward Health Care overcome numerous industry headwinds and challenges, including personally purchasing necessary equipment and supplies to meet patient needs and personally guaranteeing loans for the company with their assets,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Markey said he wasn’t buying that explanation and accused de la Torre, a former heart surgeon, of breaking his Hippocratic oath.

“What Dr. de la Torre and private equity have committed is something that is so heartless, so cruel and so harmful to the most vulnerable people in our society,” Markey said.

Louisiana is also home to Steward Hospital, and Cassidy, who is also a physician, said he has heard disturbing stories from his constituents about the lack of availability at the facility.

“They haven’t been able to pay their bills and people are being turned away,” Cassidy said. “We are told that at least one person has died and is awaiting transport. Now think about it. This does not sound like the United States.

Cassidy said he is committed to working across the aisle with Markey to address some of the financial moves that allowed Steward’s investors to profit when patient care suffered.

“Even though he’s a liberal Democrat and I’m a conservative Republican, we’re united on how to make sure people get the health care they need,” he said.

Pat Milton contributed to this report.