In 2023, in Boston, a woman needed an embolization coil after complications during childbirth, but the hospital didn't have one because it was repossessed two weeks prior for unpaid bills. Sungida Rashid died because the hospital was part of Steward Health Care, which was, over a decade, plundered for over a billion dollars by its private equity owners, while its hospitals were mired in debt and lacked critical supplies and staff. Here, I explain how this happened, and who profited from putting patient lives at risk: Medical Properties Trust, Cerberus Capital Management, and CEO Ralph de la Torre, who purchased a $40 million yacht with his share of the spoils.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Leave a tip: paypal.me/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/grockallschmidt
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100025678273449

Sources

Sick profit: Investigating private equity's stealthy takeover of health care
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/health-care-private-equity-medical-bills-stealthy-takeover/

The rising danger of private equity in healthcare
https://lowninstitute.org/the-rising-danger-of-private-equity-in-healthcare/

The Plundering of America's Hospitals
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-wealthy-investors-got-rich-looting-needy-hospitals-healthcare-system-2024-3

Private Equity Buyouts in Healthcare: Who Wins, Who Loses?
https://www.cepr.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/WP_118-Appelbaum-and-Batt.pdf

A new study reveals the states where private equity has the most influence on housing, health care, jobs and pensions
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/states-rank-private-equity-influence-housing-health-care-jobs-pensions-rcna146818

A new mom died after giving birth at a Boston hospital. Was corporate greed to blame?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-new-mom-died-after-giving-birth-at-a-boston-hospital-was-corporate-greed-to-blame/

Companies Behind Malta Hospital Controversy Spent Millions on Luxuries, Payments to Director
https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/companies-behind-malta-hospital-controversy-spent-millions-on-luxuries-payments-to-director

Top House leaders say 'no way' to Steward bailout
https://www.dotnews.com/2024/top-house-leaders-say-no-way-steward-bailout

Inside the rise and fall of Steward Health Care’s Ralph de la Torre
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/29/metro/steward-health-care-ceo-ralph-de-la-torre/

As Steward Hospitals Teeter, CEO's Yacht is Docked in the Galapagos Islands
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/02/business/steward-ceo-ralph-de-la-torre/

Cerberus Quadruples Money After Unusual Exit From Hospital Giant
https://web.archive.org/web/20210726050738/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-27/cerberus-quadruples-money-after-unusual-exit-from-hospital-giant

Steward Board of Directors
https://www.steward.org/about/leadership

"Less about people and more about profits": Investors' role in next week's closure of San Antonio hospital under scrutiny
https://web.archive.org/web/20240121021746/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-vista-medical-center-closure-investors-role-san-antonio-hospital-under-scrutiny/

Governor Healey wants Steward Health Care to leave Massachusetts
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/governor-healey-wants-steward-health-care-to-leave-massachusetts/3289005/

A Hospital Heist Seeks Protection in the Ponzi-Friendliest Court in America
https://prospect.org/health/hospital-heist-steward-friendly-bankruptcy-court-texas/

Massachusetts Wakes Up to a Hospital Nightmare
https://prospect.org/health/2024-01-26-massachusetts-hospital-nightmare-steward-health/

A Close Look at the Luxury AMARAL Yacht, a Jewel of Abeking & Rasmussen
https://www.superyachtfan.com/yacht/lady-sheridan/

Timelines
https://lowninstitute.org/steward-implosion-provides-cautionary-tale-on-private-equity-in-health-care/
https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/01/31/steward-health-care-timeline
https://www.wcvb.com/article/steward-health-care-bankruptcy-timeline/60698320