Local Spotlight: The role of private equity in for-profit health care

U.S. health care has a reputation for costing a pretty penny – and making one, too.

So, when the country’s largest for-profit health care system – Steward Health Care in Dallas, Texas – filed for bankruptcy in May, alarm bells sounded.

In September, CEO Ralph de la Torre was subpoenaed to testify about it in front of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee.

What led up to this moment? How does a for-profit health care system go from the largest in its field to left with nothing? And most importantly – how did that affect the communities it served?

We reached out to the Steward Health Care and de la Torre’s spokespersons for comment. Steward’s spokesperson said the company would not comment. And de la Torre’s personal spokesperson pointed us to the website “The Truth About The Steward CEO.”