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Senator Bernie Sanders said in prepared remarks in September 2024 that former Steward Health Care chairman and CEO Ralph de la Torre and companies he owned received at least $250 million in compensation over four years. That figure does not mean $250 million was his personal salary. It came amid Steward’s financial collapse: the chain filed for bankruptcy in May 2024, while congressional reports described hospital closures, layoffs, patient-safety concerns and disrupted access to care.
What the $250 million figure refers to
Sanders, then chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, gave the figure in prepared remarks for a September 12, 2024 hearing on Steward’s bankruptcy. He said de la Torre and companies he owned received at least $250 million in compensation over a four-year period. Ars Technica traced the figure to Wall Street Journal reporting based on bankruptcy documents and financial statements.
The wording matters: the amount covered de la Torre and his companies, not necessarily money paid directly to him as salary or cash he personally kept. The cited accounts do not establish that the entire sum was personal income, nor do they make it a court-verified finding about his take-home pay.
Steward’s bankruptcy and financial scale
Steward Health Care was a multistate hospital system that previously operated 31 hospitals across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, according to the Senate HELP Committee. The committee describes Steward’s May 6, 2024 bankruptcy filing as the largest for-profit hospital bankruptcy in U.S. history.
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Sanders cited roughly $9 billion in debt at the time of the filing in his 2024 prepared remarks. That is his stated approximation, not a figure to confuse with the $250 million compensation claim: one describes reported debt, the other compensation to de la Torre and companies he owned over four years.
What congressional sources reported about patients and hospitals
A 2024 report by Senator Edward Markey summarized reporting that at least 15 patients had died and at least 2,000 had been placed in “immediate peril” in connection with conditions at Steward hospitals. The report also said that CMS had placed approximately one-third of Steward-owned hospitals in immediate jeopardy. Those are attributed figures and characterizations summarized in a Senate report; they should not be read as a legal finding that Steward caused every reported death.
In his 2024 prepared remarks, Sanders said federal inspectors had cited Steward-owned hospitals more than 30 times since 2019 for putting patients in “immediate jeopardy,” which he described as situations in which patients died, faced grave risk or were injured. “Immediate jeopardy” is a regulatory term indicating serious risk to patient health or safety; it does not by itself settle legal responsibility for a particular injury or death.
The HELP Committee’s 2026 account also describes healthcare workers being terminated, hospitals closing and communities losing access to care. It states that a patient at Glenwood Regional Medical Center died while waiting for a transfer because the hospital lacked the resources to provide treatment. The committee’s account identifies a specific reported event; it does not establish that all patient deaths cited in congressional materials had the same circumstances.
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How the compensation claim fits the operating crisis
The public-interest question is not simply whether an executive compensation number was large. It is how money flowed to the company’s former CEO and his businesses while the hospital system’s finances and operations deteriorated, and what that meant for patients, staff and communities relying on its facilities. The compensation figure, bankruptcy debt estimate and reported patient impacts come from different statements and reports; none alone proves that the payments caused a particular closure, staffing decision or patient outcome.
Markey’s report used the phrase “How Corporate Greed Hurt Patients, Health Workers, and Communities,” a political characterization of the crisis. The HELP Committee’s hearing title framed its inquiry as “Examining the Bankruptcy of Steward Health Care: How Management Decisions Have Impacted Patient Care.” Readers should distinguish those advocacy and oversight framings from established figures and attributed reports.
Quick Recap
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What happened after the bankruptcy filing
- May 6, 2024: Steward filed for bankruptcy.
- September 12, 2024: The Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on the bankruptcy and its impact on patient care. De la Torre was listed as a witness but, according to the committee’s later account, did not appear despite a subpoena.
- September 25, 2024: The Senate unanimously adopted a criminal contempt resolution after de la Torre failed to appear under subpoena.
- August 2026 status: In a letter that month, HELP Committee leaders said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia had not acted on the contempt referral and requested an update. That is the status reported in the committee leaders’ letter, not a claim about any later action.
What is—and is not—established by the $250 million headline
- Established in the cited congressional remarks and reporting: Sanders said de la Torre and companies he owned received at least $250 million in compensation over four years, citing reporting tied to bankruptcy documents and financial statements.
- Not established by that wording: that the whole amount was personal salary, net income, or money de la Torre personally retained.
- Separately reported: Steward’s bankruptcy, approximately $9 billion in debt cited by Sanders, and congressional summaries of patient-safety and workforce impacts.
- Not settled by those reported figures alone: a finding that the compensation caused each operational failure or that Steward was legally responsible for every reported death.
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