Enlarge / The name placard for Dr. Ralph de la Torre, founder and chief executive officer of Steward Health Care System, in front of an empty seat during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on Thursday, September 12, 2024. (credit: Getty | Ting Shen) The CEO of a failed hospital system who was paid hundreds of millions of dollars while patients were allegedly "killed and maimed" in his resource-starved and rotting facilities, was a no-show at a Senate hearing on Thursday—despite a bipartisan subpoena compelling him to appear. Lawyers for Ralph de la Torre—the Harvard University-trained cardiac surgeon who took over the Steward Health Care System in 2020—told senators in a letter last week that he was unable to testify at the hearing.