Bad Boys of Bankruptcy: S3E6: Turning Care Into Commerce: The Collapse of Steward Healthcare
From To the Extent That... by ABA Business Law Section
April 28, 2026 · 39 min
About this episode
This episode discusses the collapse of Steward Healthcare and the implications of its financial strategies on healthcare services.
In this live episode of Bad Boys of Bankruptcy, Judge Elizabeth Gunn is joined by Sam Maizel and Andrew Troop to break down the Steward Healthcare Chapter 11, a case driven as much by personality as by financial engineering. At the center is Dr. Ralph de la Torre, a surgeon turned executive who helped build a hospital empire through private equity, aggressive expansion, and a controversial strategy of selling the land beneath hospitals while taking billions in long-term lease obligations. The result: a system burdened with debt, billions in rent, and allegations of value extraction, all while critical healthcare services were at risk. This episode explores how one “bad boy” and a high-risk financial model collided with the realities of healthcare, leaving courts, regulators, and communities to deal with the fallout.
People in this episode
Host: Judge Elizabeth Gunn
Guests: Sam Maizel, Andrew Troop
Topics covered
- bankruptcy
- healthcare
- financial engineering
- private equity
- debt
- regulation
Keywords
- bankruptcy
- Steward Healthcare
- Dr. Ralph de la Torre
- financial model
- healthcare services
- debt
- private equity
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Steward Healthcare
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