Steward Leadership

Dr. Ralph de la Torre is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Steward Health Care Systems LLC. Steward is the largest private hospital operator in the United States and a national leader in implementing a new, integrated model of health care delivery that keeps patients healthy and close to home. Within two years of becoming CEO of Caritas Christi, Dr. de la Torre dramatically improved the system. During this time, Dr. de la Torre implemented changes in governance, operational structure and strategy, leading to the creation of a fully integrated community care organization with significant participation in risk contracting.

Before joining Caritas, Dr. de la Torre was the founder and CEO of the Cardiovascular Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and of Cardiovascular Management Associates, one of the nation's first totally integrated systems for treating cardiac patients. At the same time Dr. de la Torre was Chief of Cardiac Surgery at BIDMC and a Harvard Medical Faculty Physician at BIDMC. He has founded several health care-related businesses and has numerous issued or pending patents. A frequent commentator on national health care policy issues, Dr. de la Torre has bylined and/or been featured in Businessweek, Fortune and CNBC, among others. He was recently voted one of the 25 most powerful physician executives in the United States by Modern Healthcare magazine. Dr. de la Torre graduated from Duke University in 1988 (B.S.E.), where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi, and from a joint program between Harvard Medical School (M.D.) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.S.) in 1992.

Speaker Boehner led the US House from January 2011 to October 2015, a time during which he navigated some of the most difficult legislative challenges of the modern era.

A small businessman who entered public service to remove barriers to private-sector job creation, Speaker Boehner is respected for his efforts to find common ground without compromising on principle, and for his belief that individuals of competing views can “disagree, without being disagreeable."

He represented the people of Ohio's 8th Congressional District in the US House for nearly 25 years. Elected as House Majority Leader in 2006, Boehner went on to serve as the top Republican leader in the US House for nearly a decade and became Speaker in January 2011. Speaker Boehner left public service on October 31, 2015. He serves on the boards of several private companies and as senior strategic advisor for Squire Patton Boggs LLP.

H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He was the 26th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018.

McMaster holds a PhD in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an assistant professor of history at the United States Military Academy from 1994 to 1996. He is author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World and the award-winning Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam.

A member of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, she has served as Chairperson of the Board of Steward’s Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts since 2005. A native of Kerala, India, Sr. Vimala received a Bachelor of Arts in Management from Bhopal School of Sciences in Bhopal, India, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Stonehill College and a Master of Business Administration from Providence College. In addition to serving as Chairperson of the Board at Steward’s Saint Anne’s Hospital, she has held a number of positions in the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation including Provincial Superior in the U.S. and Provincial Superior of India. Sr. Vimala started her career in the accounting department of Saint Anne’s Hospital after teaching high school in Kerala, India.

Carlos M. Hernandez served as Chief Executive Officer of Fluor Corporation from May 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020. Before being named as chief executive officer, he was the executive vice president, chief legal officer for Fluor Corporation and served as the company's corporate secretary. He had responsibility for all legal affairs and compliance. He joined Fluor in 2007. Mr. Hernandez currently serves on the Board of Steward Health Care.

Prior to joining the company, Mr. Hernandez served as general counsel for ArcelorMittal Americas, a major steel producer which is part of the ArcelorMittal steel group. Mr. Hernandez has also served as general counsel and secretary of International Steel Group (ISG), Inc. prior to its acquisition by Mittal Steel Company. In addition to law and compliance, he had responsibility for government affairs and environmental matters.

Before joining ISG, he served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for Fleming Companies, Inc., in Dallas where, in addition to law and compliance, he had responsibility for risk management, safety, real estate, non-merchandise procurement, and corporate security. From 1984 to 1999, Mr. Hernandez served in a number of different legal capacities including assistant general counsel for Armco Inc. a steel company, in Pittsburgh. Early in his career, he worked as a civil engineer with HNTB.

Mr. Hernandez holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Purdue University and a juris doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law.

James Karam is President and founder of First Bristol Corporation, which has developed over 4 Million square feet of retail shopping centers, office buildings and hotels throughout southern New England. As a general partner and co-developer of several major award-winning developments, he has been recognized for his contribution to three Massachusetts award-winning historic rehabilitation projects, and in 2007 one of his hotel developments was selected as the “Outstanding Hotel Conversion” in the U. S. by Hilton Hotels. Mr. Karam is also the co-owner of WSAR and WHTB, radio stations serving the South Coast region of Massachusetts. He has devoted significant time to civic and charitable organizations by acting as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of Caritas Christi until its sale to Steward Health Care. He was formerly the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the University of Massachusetts five campus system, Chairman of the Board of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, Co-Chairman of the Southcoast CEO Group, and Southcoast Economic Development partnership. Mr. Karam is an alumnus of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and holds two Honorary Doctorate degrees from UMass and the Southern New England School of Law.

Dr. Michael Callum is the Executive Vice President for Physician Services for Steward Health Care and immediate past president of Steward Medical Group, a network of physicians employed by Steward that includes both specialists and primary care physicians. Under his leadership, Steward Medical Group has emerged as a national leader in clinical integration, quality performance and patient outcomes-based reimbursement. Dr. Callum is a graduate of the Boston University School of Medicine, where he received his M.A. in medical science and his M.D. He also holds an M.S. in public health from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Rubén José King-Shaw, Jr., is the Chief Strategy Officer. Mr. King-Shaw previously held the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mansa Equity Partners, Inc, and was a member of Steward Health Care System’s board of directors. Throughout his career, he has spent considerable time in public service leading both state and federal government health programs. At the state level, under Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Mr. King-Shaw was the Secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. The Agency was responsible for Florida’s State Medicaid Program, Health Quality Assurance, Survey and Certification of healthcare facilities, Managed Care and the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Mr. King-Shaw also served as Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from 2001 to 2003 during the administration of President George W. Bush. He was also senior advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, where he led the Administration's Health Coverage Tax Credit policies to finance coverage for the uninsured. In 2011, Mr. King-Shaw was appointed to the Obama Administration's Program Advisory and Oversight Committee to monitor and provide guidance to Medicare's value-based purchasing program for Durable Medical Equipment. Currently, he is an advisor to the Trump Administration in the areas of fraud, waste and abuse, and alternative payment models.