Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement following the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas authorizing the sale of Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe, LA to Healthcare Systems of America (HSA). Glenwood was previously owned by Steward Health Care, which is currently under investigation by the HELP Committee for its financial mismanagement of its hospitals.

“I am pleased to hear the U.S. Bankruptcy Court has approved the sale of Glenwood Regional Medical Center. In the Senate, we will continue our investigation into Steward Health Care to ensure this situation does not happen again,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This is a step forward. The new owners work with the community to rebuild trust, return to full staffing, and restore the high level of care Northwest Louisiana deserves.”

In July, the HELP Committee voted on a strong bipartisan basis to subpoena Dr. de la Torre’s testimony after his repeated refusals to cooperate with the Committee’s investigation into Steward’s financial mismanagement of its hospitals. Last week, Cassidy announced that the HELP Committee will consider resolutions on Thursday, September 19 at 10:00 AM ET/9:00 AM CT to hold Steward Health CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre in contempt for defying a congressional subpoena to testify before the Committee.

At last week’s hearing, the Committee heard from four witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the effects of Steward’s mismanagement including Louisiana Representative Michael Echols and West Monroe Mayor Staci Mitchell.