Ralph de la Torre, the controversial chief executive officer of one of the nation’s largest private health systems, Steward Health Care System, will step down from his position Oct. 1.

Steward Health Care leaves behind a hospital landscape that has been weakened by the company's meltdown and its closure of five hospitals over the past decade.

Ralph de la Torre will step down as CEO of troubled Steward Health Care next week, the company said on Saturday, after he was held in criminal contempt by the U.S. Senate for refusing to testify about cost-cutting decisions at the group's 31 hospitals before it filed for bankruptcy.

Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre will be stepping down after refusing to testify before a U.S. Senate panel on how his health care company went belly up — earning him a referral to a

The CEO of a hospital operator that filed for bankruptcy protection in May will step down after failing to testify before a U.S. Senate panel.

The U.S. Senate has approved a resolution intended to hold Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt for failing to testify before a Senate panel.

With his affinity for luxury yachts and corporate jets, de la Torre became a symbol of greed in for-profit health care, amid mounting stories this year of patients harmed by staff and shortages of critical supplies at Steward hospitals.

The CEO of a hospital operator that filed for bankruptcy protection in May will step down after failing to testify before a U.S. Senate panel.Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre has overseen a network of some 30 hospitals around the country.

De la Torre's resignation comes as proceedings continue in Steward's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which so far have resulted in the closure or transfer of seven Massachusetts hospitals.