Watch: Bernie Sanders Rips Into Steward CEO, Says He ‘Epitomises Corporate Greed’
Steward Health Care’s controversies in Malta have been well-documented, but it is also facing serious problems in the United States, where it recently declared bankruptcy.
And its CEO Ralph De La Torre was recently the subject of a hard-hitting speech at the US Senate by none other than Bernie Sanders, the firebrand Vermont senator who twice sought to become US President.
At a committee hearing where senators voted to subpoena De La Torre, Sanders warned that De La Torre “epitomises the corporate greed that is permeating throughout our for-profit healthcare system”.
“We know that Steward went bankrupt and that several hospitals have been forced to close their doors because they ran out of money,” he said.
“In the midst of these crises, De La Torre has been doing phenomenally well financially. Hospitals have been shut down, workers have been laid off, patients have suffered, but De La Torre has been doing well.”
“While Steward was busy shutting down hospitals all over America, Dr De La Torre received a $100 million payday that he used to purchase a $40 million yacht, a $15 million custom-made fishing boat, a $62 million private jet and a backup jet worth $33 million. Enough is enough, it’s time for Congress to hold him accountable for his extreme greed.”
It is a similar line of argument that was recently used in Malta by Adrian Delia, the PN MP and former leader who successfully mounted a court case to declared that a Maltese hospital deal that was originally issued to Vitals and later to Steward was fraudulent.
“Ralph De La Torre’s yacht, the head of Vitals, is worth €40 million. They (Steward) defrauded the Maltese people of €400 million,” Delia said.
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