Good morning. I’m Chris Serres, and I write about substance and behavioral addictions for the Globe. Last spring, I was reassigned to the Spotlight Team to help with various investigations into Steward Health Care. There has been a lot uncovered, so today I’d like to give you a synopsis of what the team has found so far – from corporate financial misdeeds that enriched executives but harmed patients, to oversight failures that reached the highest echelons of our state government.
But first:
- At least four employees of the Somerville Library have resigned in recent weeks because a colleague who was suspended for inappropriate conduct was allowed to return to work.
- Flying objects overhead. Concern and confusion. And calls for military intervention. Mysterious drones have America buzzing.
- The Patriots lost again. Anybody surprised?
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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
After months of investigating Steward Health Care – from shady finances to substandard patient care – the Globe Spotlight Team had a question: Where was state oversight in all this?
It turns out that time and again, state health officials looked the other way as Steward flouted state regulations designed to protect public health. We found that reports critical of Steward were softened, alarming financials went unheeded, and Steward’s broken promises went unpunished. The regulatory failures enabled a crisis that harmed patients and entire communities.
That’s just the latest in a series of revelations about reckless practices by one of the nation’s largest, private for-profit hospital chains and its former chief executive, Dr. Ralph de la Torre. We thought it would be helpful to step back and recap what Globe reporters and the Spotlight Team have uncovered so far.
First, we discovered the CEO’s secret financial dealings. As Ralph de la Torre secured a multimillion-dollar apartment and traveled on Steward corporate jets to far-flung destinations on vacation — all on the company’s dime – the more than 30 hospitals he ran were deep in debt, with equipment and staffing shortages that frequently put patients at risk. Turns out de la Torre was allegedly dipping into Steward’s dwindling bank accounts to serve his own personal ends.
We examined how he used corporate funds as the company crumbled. As his hospital company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, de la Torre left worries about unpaid bills behind and ventured off to exotic destinations – such as Jamaica, Bermuda, Antigua, and the Virgin Islands – on Steward’s company plane and his personal yacht. A Globe Spotlight analysis found that many, if not all, of de la Torre’s hundreds of private jet excursions were paid for by Steward.
These shady business practices caused deadly harm to patients. Steward put scores of people in harm’s way by starving its hospitals of staff, equipment, and other vital resources. At least 15 patients died after failing to receive professionally accepted standards of care at Steward hospitals here and across the country, according to a Globe Spotlight investigation. At least 2,000 others were found by federal regulators to be put in immediate peril.
And it turns out Steward’s business was built on a house of cards. Steward’s ruinous expansion was fueled by an unusual business partnership with a real estate investment firm that funneled money to Steward while saddling the hospital chain with crippling lease obligations. Steward and the real estate firm grew in tandem, in part by keeping Steward’s shaky finances secret.
Executives spent millions spying on their critics. As Steward struggled to pay vendors and provide services, its executives spent millions on intelligence firms to spy on its critics. The surveillance was part of a larger effort to gather dirt on people who dared to criticize or question Steward’s business practices. Steward executives spent more than $7 million from 2018 to 2023 on firms that provide research, intelligence-gathering, and surveillance services – in what one attorney for the firm called a “spare no expenses mission.”
Steward even raided its own insurer. Executives at the overextended hospital chain have long treated their in-house malpractice insurer, TRACO, like a piggy bank, pulling cash from it at will, and severely depleting the assets meant to cover claims of medical harm. As a result, scores of patients who suffered from shoddy care at Steward hospitals could be harmed again, when they are unable to collect what they are owed.
All of which was made possible by Steward’s board. The financial misdeeds, patient neglect, and mismanagement at Steward were enabled by Steward’s insular board of directors, which largely rubber-stamped de la Torre’s strategic vision for years and took home six-figure salaries for attending quarterly meetings. Several board members even joined de la Torre on his personal yacht to exotic retreats.
Meanwhile, the feds are investigating. Federal authorities last month detained Steward chief executive Ralph de la Torre and seized his phone, as well as the phone of another Steward executive, Armin Ernst, as part of a sprawling corruption investigation, according to several people briefed on the matter. Both are at the center of a criminal corruption case in Malta, where authorities allege the Steward executives bribed government officials. The phone seizures occurred just weeks after former US House Speaker and Steward board member John Boehner was spotted by Globe reporters entering the federal courthouse in downtown Boston – verifying reports that a grand jury is investigating allegations of fraud, bribery, and corruption within the hospital chain.
And now de la Torre faces potential contempt charges. He could face a trial and prison time for ignoring a congressional subpoena and refusing to testify about the crisis at the hospital system. The US Senate voted unanimously to hold the CEO in criminal contempt – the first such action by the Senate in more than 50 years.
Watch the Globe for more developments in the Steward Health Care saga.
POINTS OF INTEREST | By Teresa Hanafin, Globe Staff
PHONE FIGHTS: Remember when Starting Point explored the debate over banning smartphones in schools? This story about violent, even fatal, brawls fueled by texts and videos – including at Revere High – might make up your mind. (NYTimes via the Globe)
FAKE NEWS: Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria sued the local paper three years ago for defamation, saying the owner and the editor deliberately published false stories about him. He won. He’ll get $1.1 million in a settlement, and the paper, the Everett Leader Herald, has to shut down after 139 years. (Boston Globe)
WHO’S YOUR TRAIN DADDY? Commuters are digging the improvements to the T, and are calling GM Phil Eng everything from their hero and savior to their celebrity crush. Selfies abound. (Boston Globe)
BOSTON AT A BARGAIN: This week’s free events and deals include a “Polar Express” matinee, an epic theater trio, a “Nutcracker” dance workshop, the annual Harvard Youth Day game, and an all-you-can-game arcade date night. (Boston Globe)
BACKPACK BACKLASH: You know that gray bag that alleged gunman Luigi Mangione was spotted wearing in surveillance video? Turns out lots of people recognized it as the brand Peak Design – including the company CEO, who called police. Now he’s getting threats. (CNN)
THEY SEEM NICE: A San Francisco startup whose only product is an artificial intelligence “sales agent” called Artisan is posting some pretty provocative ads around town to convince employers to buy their AI tool. “Artisans won’t complain about work-life balance” reads one. “Hire Artisans, not humans,” says another. (SFGate)
SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND: Earth’s dark, miles-deep oceanic trenches are hiding some pretty strange creatures. And scientists have found another: A fast, predatory amphipod, a white shrimp-like crustacean. It’s about 1.5 inches long and is guaranteed to creep you out. (ScienceAlert)
THERE ARE PICTURES: The children of the late actor Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward, who has Alzheimer’s disease, are selling one of their homes: A spectacular penthouse in a co-op building at Fifth Avenue and East 93rd Street in Manhattan. The asking price: $9.95 million. (NYTimes)
SWIPE RIGHT AND PRAY: LW is a 30-something who has never dated because it hasn’t been a priority – until now. Stick with dating apps? The writer believes in God, so there’s that. (Boston Globe)
THE TRANSITION TO TRUMP
Appointments
President-elect Donald Trump named two more close allies to administration posts:
- Ric Grenell will be presidential envoy for special missions, responsible for hotspots such as Venezuela and North Korea. Grenell was ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first administration, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, and did a stint as acting director of national intelligence. (AP)
- Devin Nunes, former House Intelligence chair, will head up the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. He’ll continue as CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social. (Washington Post)
Also:
- Between Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hard-line opposition to vaccines, staunch support of Donald Trump, and conspiratorial leanings on a number of subjects, it’s easy to forget his long record of liberal advocacy — from crusading against corporate conglomerates in the food and fossil fuel industries to decrying climate change and income inequality. (Boston Globe)
- More Democratic state lawmakers lost seats in Vermont than in any other state. Exasperated voters fed up with rising costs sent a message to lawmakers. (NY Times via the Globe)
- Kamala Harris has a decision to make: Head home to run for California governor in 2026 (Gavin Newsom is term-limited), or try to win the Democratic nomination for president in what could be a very competitive primary in 2028. (CNN)
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Chris Serres can be reached at chris.serres@globe.com. Follow him @ChrisSerres.