(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted to hold Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt of Congress on Wednesday after the executive refused to testify about cost-cutting decisions at the company's 31 hospitals before it filed for bankruptcy.

The unanimous vote came after de la Torre declined to attend a Sept. 12 hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, even after he was subpoenaed, that examined Steward's financial decline.

The committee instead heard testimony from nurses and public officials who said that Steward prioritized corporate profits over patient care. The panel voted last week to issue a contempt resolution, leading to Wednesday's vote in the full Senate.

Senator Bernie Sanders, who chairs the committee, said it was important that the full Senate send a message that even a wealthy individual like de la Torre, who could afford yachts, jets and high-priced lawyers, was "not above the law."

"If you defy the congressional subpoena, you will be held accountable no matter who you are or how well connected you may be," Sanders said.

The vote marked the first time since 1971 that the Senate had voted to make a criminal contempt referral to the U.S. Department of Justice, which would ultimately decide whether to bring charges.

"For everyone who has suffered due to Ralph de la Torre's greed and Steward's collapse, I hope the Department of Justice will move swiftly to bring charges against him," said Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, where several impacted hospitals were based.

Rebecca Kral, a spokesperson for de la Torre, in a statement called the vote disappointing, saying it ignored his right under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment not to incriminate himself.

"The U.S. Constitution stands above the government to protect all Americans from precisely the kind of assault on our rights that we are witnessing here," Kral said.

Steward declined to comment.

Steward, the largest privately owned hospital network in the United States, filed for bankruptcy in May, seeking to sell all of its 31 hospitals and address its $9 billion in debt. The company has sold several hospitals since filing for bankruptcy.

Federal prosecutors in Boston have been investigating de la Torre and Steward, a person familiar with the matter has said.

De la Torre had previously said that it would be inappropriate for him to testify before Congress about Steward's finances while the company is negotiating court-supervised bankruptcy settlements.