NME/Tenet and Piedmont Medical Center News

I am researching comments made earlier that appear to imply some kind of problem between the above hospital and Tenet.
Could someone fill me in on what happened or lead me to a source of info.
Many thanks
D. Morton

September 4, 2007 - 7:39 AM EST

Operating Lease Ends At Two Tenet Hospitals in Dallas

Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:THC) announced that its 25 year operating lease agreement with the MetroCrest Hospital Authority (MHA) to operate the 155-bed RHD Memorial Medical Center and the 207-bed Trinity Medical Center, both located in the Dallas area, expired on Aug. 31. The company had previously disclosed the MHA had announced in August of 2006 that another company was selected to manage these two hospitals following the expiration of Tenet’s lease. Both hospitals were open and accredited with The Joint Commission upon their return to the MHA.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals and related health care services. Tenet’s hospitals aim to provide the best possible care to every patient who comes through their doors, with a clear focus on quality and service. Tenet can be found on the World Wide Web at www.tenethealth.com.

Some of the statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on our current expectations and could be affected by numerous factors and are subject to various risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and periodic reports on Form 8-K. Do not rely on any forward-looking statement, as we cannot predict or control many of the factors that ultimately may affect our ability to achieve the results estimated. We make no promise to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise.

Media:
Steven Campanini, 469-893-6321
Steven.Campanini@tenethealth.com
or
Investors:
Thomas Rice, 469-893-2522
Thomas.Rice@tenethealth.com

Source: Business Wire (September 4, 2007 - 7:39 AM EST)
.............................................

Too bad York County can't END THE LEASE until 2050... most of us who read this will be long dead by then!!!

At any rate, the stock price of THC has PLUNGED way below 4 and with any LUCK at all, some entity will buy out Tenet! The second item of the NEW business plan should be FIRING all the current senior management. We can ONLY hope that everyone with any connection to National Medical Enterprises and Jeffrey Barbakow's legacy will be FIRED!

That would solve TENET's former hospitals'worst problems which cause all of us to have risks to our quality of care!

More insight from yet another source:

Jeb Bush joins Tenet Healthcare's board

By David Koenig, AP Business Writer

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-05-10-3254091799_x.htm

DALLAS — Jeb Bush, who tried to tackle rising Medicaid spending as governor of Florida, was elected Thursday to the board of Tenet Healthcare Corp., whose struggling Florida hospitals have become a drag on company profits.

Bush said he doesn't have any specific assignments on behalf of the company.

(THIS IS too funny for words!... all that money, nearly a half million dollars, into his wallet and NOTHING "specific" to do! r.)

"I hope that I can bring my experiences of the last eight years as governor of a market* that Tenet is very active in, to help the company improve quality and be profitable," Bush said in a brief interview with The Associated Press.

(*Also, multi-million dollar settlements to cardiac patients who claimed they got infections after surgery because of unsanitary conditions at a Tenet hospital in Florida.)

Bush, the 54-year-old younger brother of President George W. Bush, said Tenet could join the debate over changing the way government health plans pay hospitals, but he declined to say what his role would be.

Last month, Tenet created a special board seat for Bush, who left office in January after two terms, and shareholders overwhelmingly elected him to a one-year term.

(Specially created seat? Tenet hung jury in CA? Firing of Carol Lam? Gotta love proxies at the annual meeting... patients are not the only ones Tenet abuses... pity the shareholders NOT getting FREE "restricted stock units"! r.)

Bush was named to the board's ethics and nominating committees.

(Please, no laughing... Tenet means business! r.)

Tenet directors other than the chairman were paid fees of $97,700 to $129,222 last year, which includes a base fee of $65,000 plus additional amounts for each meeting attended. Bush will also get restricted stock worth $260,000 later this month.

Tenet, one of the nation's largest hospital companies, is trying to dig out from four straight money-losing years caused by self-inflicted wounds including overbilling Medicare. Last year, the company agreed to a $900 million settlement of the Medicare charges.

The company has stopped a decline in hospital patients in Texas and California, but not in Florida. Some analysts believe Tenet's problems in south Florida stem partly from seniors -- heavy users of hospital services -- not rebuilding homes that were damaged in 2005's Hurricane Wilma because of high property taxes.

(Residents might also be "choosing alternative providers" because of POOR quality of care... google "Tenet" + "Florida" + "scandals" in an advance search for a few clues! r.)

"They have Jeb Bush on the board now, maybe he can give them insight in how to get that solved," said Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst with CRT Capital Group LLC.

Bush's major health care initiative as governor was an effort to control spending on Medicaid, the federal-state plan for the poor, by shifting recipients into private managed care plans. The program is being tested in a few counties.

Tenet began pursuing Bush in March on the advice of Russell S. Reynolds, a longtime Bush family friend and fundraiser for President Bush and his father, the former president. Reynolds advises companies on executive and director recruitment.

Tenet Chairman Edward A. Kangas said the company was fortunate to land Bush.

"He has talents that will help us continue to put this company on the right track to success," Kangas said.

(PRAY that they can find "them talents" at the rate they are paying this special creation! r.)

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How can anyone take Tenet senior management seriously?

This company should have been prosecuted and fined OUT OF EXISTENCE! Sold to responsible providers back in 1992... long before the continuing saga of Jeffrey Barbakow's scandals of 2002, and the buffoons he placed in charge as he departed as the highest compensated CEO in the USA in 2002!

Of course, he was unemployed and facing financial hardship because his personal finances were down to a mere $1.4 million... and his brother had pretty well screwed up any chance he had for his "best job ever!"

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Follow the Money
Jeb Bush Joins the Tenet Gravy Train
By Brett Arends
Mutual Funds Columnist
5/9/2007 10:25 AM EDT

http://www.thestreet.com/funds/followmoney/10355637.html

A senior member of the Bush dynasty is about to get a large sum of money from a company with a history of ethical violations.

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Jeb Bush, the president's brother and former governor of Florida, is up for election Thursday as a director of troubled hospital chain Tenet Healthcare (THC) . Assuming he's waved through, his pay in his first year would come to nearly $37,000 a day.

This is the same Tenet that had to pay $900 million to Uncle Sam last summer to settle charges that it had overbilled Medicare and Medicaid over many years.

Nine hundred million dollars.

The U.S. attorneys announcing the settlement accused the company of "fraud" and trying to "manipulate and cheat the system."

Mike Leavitt, the Health and Human Services Secretary appointed by Jeb's brother George, said the company had "fraudulently abused the Medicare program."

It's also the same Tenet that just paid $80 million to the IRS after an audit found it owed back taxes going back as far as 1995.

The company recently had to restate nearly five years of earnings statements after an investigation into its books.

And this is just the big stuff. Tenet's recent public filings read like a police blotter. One of its clinics in South Carolina performed 436 open heart operations without certification. (I'm wondering where? RH? Be nice if we could depend on The Herald reporting something like that, if so! r.) The company is being sued in California by staff claiming they were systematically short-changed on pay and overtime, in breach of the state's labor code. Three former Tenet staff members, at a New Orleans hospital it owned, are under investigation for allegedly euthanizing four patients following Hurricane Katrina.

All in all, it's hardly a surprise Tenet Healthcare stock has lost 85% of its value over the past five years.

The company hadn't returned phone calls seeking a comment by press time; neither had the former governor's representatives.

Tenet isn't partisan. Among its current directors is Bob Kerrey, the former Democratic senator from Nebraska.

This will be Jeb Bush's first job since leaving the governor's office in Tallahassee four months ago.

Of course, it's not quite the election he was hoping for. Once upon a time, the dynasty was grooming him to run for president. But his older brother got there first and has probably poisoned that well forever.

Chris Matthews and Wolf Blitzer won't be on hand for the vote at Thursday's stockholders meeting. Do not expect to see many "Jeb '08" badges around the Westin Hotel in Dallas. Somehow, the atmosphere won't quite match the excitement of waiting for the returns from Ohio.

But Jeb, look on the bright side.

You've been complaining about your finances. Your last filings as governor showed your net worth was down to just $1.4 million. Obviously, that figure won't count any of the vast Bush family fortune. But still, it's embarrassing. Who wants to ask mom and pop for extra cash every Fourth of July? At your age, you should be buying your own yacht.

Sure, the Tenet job may look pretty tacky for someone of your standing, but the pay isn't bad.

It's lucky the media aren't paying too much attention. Anyone reading the public filings would have discovered that in your first year, you'll earn $474,500 -- for 13 days' work.

That's $36,500 a day. And the "work" consists of sitting in a board room, so it's not exactly heavy lifting.

If the board meetings last an average of four hours, you'll be pulling in $9,125 an hour.

Not bad for a guy who could manage only a B.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas.

Many of Tenet's 65,000 personnel are qualified medical staff with years of experience.

Yet according to public filings, their average salary and benefits last year came to around $69,000 for full-time work.

You get that in two days.

Who says all the good jobs are going to China?

I'm sure your family lawyer has already explained the details, Jeb, but just to recap the terms: As a nonemployee director you'll get an immediate golden handshake of $260,000 in "restricted stock units." Nothing says "welcome aboard" quite like a quarter-million. Plus you'll get another $130,000 in restricted stock units each year. That's on top of your retainer of $65,000 a year.

And all that is before you turn up for a single board meeting.

For each one you attend, you get another $1,500. There's another $1,200 every time you show up at a committee meeting.

A word of advice: Avoid the audit and compliance committees. There's too much work and there's always the risk something will go wrong. For an easy life, join the compensation committee. It meets only seven times a year and you don't have to do anything. Just hire some consultants to review executive pay, and agree to whatever they suggest. The executives will be grateful, and that can pay real dividends down the road. See it as using shareholder money to stock up the favor bank.

What a deal!
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Obscene... yes, I think so!

Where's the emesis tray? Think I'm about to vomit! r.

Per Paul Harvey's custom: And here's the rest of the story! (I just ran across this news reported in San Francisco.)

Here is business news that apparently lacks the good stuff, necessary to get TIMELY print coverage in The Herald! However, it does not go unnoticed by everyone.

Do you ever wonder about Tenet & Piedmont Medical Center's accounting practices? Ever wonder what STANDARDS they might adhere to? Looks like Tenet might have a dispute with the major accounting firm that has been handling their financial affairs for a number of years! Hmmmmmmm?

Well, here is the REAL reason Tenet dumped KPMG as its accountant! (They BOTH got caught!)

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SEC settles with ex-KPMG auditors
Tenet auditors engaged in "highly unreasonable" conduct
By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:33 PM ET Mar 30, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled with three former KPMG LLP auditors for their "highly unreasonable conduct" regarding Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s fiscal 2002 financial statements, officials said Thursday.
As part of the settlement, the auditors can't appear or practice before the commission as accountants, though two may apply for reinstatement in several years.

The commission settled with Clete Madden, the KPMG partner in charge of the Tenet audit; David Huffman, the KPMG senior manager on the Tenet audit, and Aron Carr, a former KPMG manager.

"By failing to perform a proper audit and then altering documents, thereby concealing their audit failures, the KPMG auditors were derelict in their most basic gatekeeping functions," said Linda Chatman Thomsen, director of the SEC's enforcement division, in a statement.

In August 2002 Madden, who can't apply for reinstatement, reported that KPMG's Tenet audit was complete, although the team had yet to finish certain procedures, including those concerning a component of Medicare revenue, SEC officials said in a statement.

In October 2002, an analyst reported that Tenet had been exploiting the Medicare program and led to a 47% loss in Tenet's market capitalization, or more than $11 billion.

Then, in November 2002, the Tenet audit team, led by Madden and Huffman, began altering the audit's working papers -- spending than 500 hours and changing more than 350 papers to create the false impression that the audit was complete when the report was issued, according to the SEC.

Carr "improperly created audit evidence" by taking a 2002 document and backdating it to 2001 by cutting and pasting over the title and date, copying it, and then placing it in the audit working papers for 2001, the SEC stated.

KPMG is involved in litigation relating to tax shelters that federal prosecutors say were illegal. And last month the SEC settled with the four remaining defendants in an action brought against them and KPMG in connection with a $1.2 billion fraudulent earnings manipulation scheme by Xerox Corp.

Ruth Mantell is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.

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Anyone care to hazard a guess who asked these auditors to falsify documentation related to Tenet's financial reporting? Think any money was offered or passed hands? Do we have three renegade accountants just creating havoc in a client's records and reports? Those accounting rascals... so unreliable and volatile... why, you have to watch accountants every minute so they don't do illegal things to get you put in jail! What bold agressive fellows... and most people think bean-counters are very cautious conservative suits!

Here are three guys who threw away lifetime careers just to conceal mistakes in billing Tenet was systematically making corporate-wide and nation-wide! Wonder what civil suit poor wronged Tenet will bring against them? The perfect scam: corporate crook who discovers crooked corporate accountant! Can we say "consipracy" kiddies?

and chances are very good that The Herald will not do a business page story on this either... even though it is some pretty good stuff!

In 2006... for the year... the DJIA was UP over 16% while Tenet Healthcare finished the year DOWN about 9%!

But that is not the worst of it for Tenet! For the last 5 years, the DOW is UP over 20%... AND Tenet Healthcare is DOWN over 80%!

That translates to "For every TEN dollars you had invested in Tenet 5 years ago, Tenet's management has skillfully REDUCED your assets to less than TWO DOLLARS!"

Guess that should not be too surprising: back then, five years ago, Tenet Healthcare operated about 150 acute care facilities, and today Tenet operates about 50!

A NME/Tenet management success story!

Many days before this story hit The Herald's front page on December 24, 2006, we were advised on this site by Jane Smith, RN, that Tenet & PMC were planning on instituting this practice. None of the hospital's assertions, nor its motives, were challenged by a single intelligent question by a Herald reporter! Yet the piece runs as NEWS, rather than advertising! We once again owe her for her courage and honesty to tell us what is going on...without the spin from Tenet's PMC PR staff:

"I think we're doing what everybody else should be doing," said Dr. Craig Charles, Piedmont's infectious disease specialist. "We're trying to stop it in its tracks.
For now, people visiting Piedmont's critical care patients must wear sterile gowns and latex gloves until patients are found to be free of the MRSA germ. The practice, which started in August, will expand to the rest of the hospital, possibly by the end of January."
……………….

Sure you are “doing what everybody else should be doing!” That’s why you are not testing all the employees and certifying that your own staff members are not carriers infecting your patients!

It would appear that there are two sources within the hospital for acquiring MSRA... staff members and physical areas of the facility itself! Unless Tenet can document an incubation period verified by CDC for MSRA, ANYONE testing positive with a test administered immediately upon admission should DEMAND that PMC prove all staff in contact with them from the day of admission is MSRA free! If there is such an incubation time lag, this would lead to the next possible circumstance: acquiring the disease while in the hospital! Therefore, anyone testing negative and subsequently becoming infected with MSRA seems to have an iron-clad very high dollar settlement coming from Tenet & PMC for reckless endangerment and unsanitary conditions!

The doctor also failed to say anything about a drug for MSRA which is effective: Cubicin, a product of Cubist Pharmaceuticals. It is very potent, life-saving, and must be administered and monitored within a hospital environment.

Cubicin's cost might be more justifiable, and less when administered on an as-needed basis, than the cost of all the disposable paraphenalia that Tenet & PMC want to ADD onto everyone's bill as a revenue generator! Surely no one is naive enough to believe that PMC will not be billing the costs for staff & visitors back to the patient involved! For sure, Tenet does not plan to eat the cost! What will the mark-up be on those disposables, Charlie? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?

A Florida judge struck down one community's efforts to get Tenet to answer for price-gouging across the nation... but the effort failed. An uninformed judge thought high prices... gouging of all patients... (and other fraudulent behavior by Tenet associated with the 2002 $1.6 billion Medicare scandal) were NOT sufficient to hold Tenet accountable.

But at least that community tried to look out for its residents & the rest of us... which is more than we can say for our elected officials in York County, more than we can say for the investigative reporting of the local fish-wrapper, and more than we can say for SC DHEC!
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Tenet Comments on Judge's Denial of Class-Action Status in Case Brought by Florida Hospital

Thursday Dec 07 2006 16:43:48 EST

DALLAS, Dec 07, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) today issued the following statement regarding a decision by a federal judge in Miami this week to deny class-action certification in a well-publicized case brought against Tenet in March 2005 by Boca Raton Community Hospital Inc.:

"We are pleased that the court denied Boca Community's request that its claims be made as a class action on behalf of virtually every other acute-care hospital in the United States. This ruling correctly limits the litigation strictly to Boca Community's individual allegations, which we have previously said are unwarranted, and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously."

The lawsuit alleged that Tenet's pricing policies before 2003 had violated federal racketeering laws, thus harming Boca Community and other hospitals.
....................

Maybe a Florida judge thinks it falls short of racketeering... but TWICE since 1992 Tenet has been judged GUILTY of massive nationwide FRAUD stealing over $2.6 billion from Medicare (all US taxpayers) for which it paid about $1.6 billion in fines or settlements & TWICE since 1992 Tenet has had 5-year Corporate Integrity Agreements in place attempting to KEEP THE COMPANY HONEST!

Judge for yourself if you TRUST this company... Tenet Healthcare, Piedmont Medical Center, or the company's executives who are from the Jeffrey Barbakow corruption-advancement heritage... like Tenet CEO Trevor Fetter, or PMC CEO Charles Miller!

Cannot wait for this dubious company to build us a Fort Mill Medical Center... under the direct supervision of Emperor Charlie I!

Ohhh My... someone in corporate woke up and smelled the roses: Medicare fraud settlements for 2002 scandal, new 5-year CIA with FED looking into every nook & cranny, and IRS problems thru 1999 almost settled with $80 million fine! Never mind that NONE of the subsequent $1.6 billion fraud years for Tenet culminating with the $900+ million fine & new CIA have not cleared IRS scrutiny! That can be the next bombshell to rock Tenet! Unless it goes bankrupt!

Tenet Changes Course
By Melissa Davis
Senior Writer
11/28/2006 11:39 AM EST

A doctor will soon oversee Tenet's operations. Stephen Newman, a physician who has led recovery efforts in Tenet's California division, will take over as the company's operating chief on Jan. 1. Newman replaces Reynold Jennings, who has struggled to mend the hospital chain for nearly three years.
Jennings will stay on as vice chairman through mid-2007, aiding Newman with the transition, and then leave the company altogether. Jennings is 60, four years older than his chosen successor.
Sheryl Skolnick, senior vice president of CRT Capital, feels that the change could signal one of two things. Either Jennings has run into problems with his turnaround plan, she says, or he has simply grown tired and wishes to retire.
…………..

Importantly, Newman is also a doctor. Before, Skolnick says, Tenet has fielded criticism for its lack of doctors in the executive suite. But now, she notes, Tenet has chosen a physician to oversee its entire operations and could win over more doctors -- who have been sending their patients elsewhere -- as a result.
……………

Dark Prognosis

Stanford Financial analyst Gary Lieberman sees a bigger fall coming. Last week, Lieberman initiated coverage of Tenet with a sell recommendation and a $4.50 price target on the shares.
By now, Lieberman has lost all faith in the company's ability to significantly improve its margins. He worries about lucrative commercial admissions -- which continue to fall -- in particular.

"The biggest piece of Tenet's strategy is to address any and all physician issues, both big and small, in order to win back the hearts and minds of physicians," writes Lieberman, whose firm has no business ties with or stake in the company. "This is a difficult task for any hospital to achieve and, if possible, would take multiple years in our view."

Newman could help out. But Lieberman feels that investor patience -- already tested for so long -- is clearly wearing thin. "We think the clock it ticking," he wrote just ahead of Newman's appointment. "If Tenet has not made some kind of meaningful positive step to improve its margins over the next year, we think the teeth -- what few might be left -- in the bullish argument for Tenet will start falling out."

.........

I'm not optimistic about NME/Tenet management being cured of all its unethical legacy by just one doctor in a high place! I also doubt one physician in the corporate executive suite will be able to advocate for all the priorities that doctors with privileges at Tenet hospitals think are necessary for patients to be placed at the top of the priority list! Until Tenet is bought out... or goes bankrupt... we are still stuck with Tenet until we have actual NEWS to the contrary! r.

stinks and the people running the system are knee deep in complicity.

My mother received horrible care while at St. Francis in Greenville SC. The nurses considered her a bother and a "right to lifer" pestered her while she was on morphine asking her is she wanted to be resusitated or intubated. SHE WAS HIGH ON MORPHINE but the nurse tried to get her to sign anyway. My sister signed the papers...out of fear I am sure.

The very next day a cardiologist made himself $20,000 to implant a stint in an 82 year old DYING woman. My mother even told them she thought she was dying but the reponse was: Lets see if the stint helps as they did find a blockage in her heart.

My mother was sent home with perscriptions for 13 different medicines at a cost of over $1000. She died less than a month later, at home, being cared for by her family. She did not want to die in a hospital. I thank Interim Hospice for the two trips they made to her house.

My point here is that the entire system is a mess. Western medicine and the AMA is a sham. The system of creating wealthy doctors, hospital, and pharmacutical companies is cracking and the final break will be when enough people stop using their "services."

PS: No liberal agenda here, just a human one

Philly Infections... what's the SC score?

posted by: feudi pandola
11/15/2006 08:49am
From a recent study by the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Concil on hospital infections:

Health-care group releases hospital-specific infection data
Tuesday November 14, 2:38 pm ET

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council on Tuesday released its first study containing hospital-specific data on hospital-acquired infections.
The report shows that last year, for example, Graduate Hospital of Philadelphia had the highest overall infection rate in the Philadelphia area, with 28.5 per 1,000 cases. But hospital and PHC4 officials agreed that the study was not suited for comparing hospitals because of the different types of cases that are treated and other factors. It's being seen as a baseline to improve on and an awareness-raising tool....Graduate, owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE:THC - News) of Dallas, had the highest overall infection rate among area hospitals at 28.5 per 1,000 cases.

Marisa Sharkey, a spokeswoman for Graduate, said the hospital believes its rate was the result of Graduate caring for a large number of patients with complex and chronic illnesses requiring repeated inpatient care -- making them more susceptible to infections. Sharkey said Graduate initiated an improvement process in late 2005 and its infection rates have declined this year.

News you will not see in The Herald's business pages... not exactly sure their purpose: not a complete listing of stocks & certainly not much very insightful business news greater in scope than the newest lunch spot opening in RH or the latest & greatest new fashion nail spa!

So I guess we have to fend for ourselves... my contribution for today to give us all "hope" that Tenet will collapse and sell our hospital to someone far more ethical to provide!

From the Tenet shareholder website:

Ornate Obscurity From Tenet

October 31, 2006
Tenet Healthcare’s recent four-page press release previewing the third quarter results for 2006 was particularly murky. But the Wall Street Journal today summed up the situation in a single paragraph. The highlights:

• A net loss of $82 million to $92 million is expected, or 17 to 20 cents per share.
• For continuing operations, the expected loss is 5 to 7 cents per share.
• Admissions fell 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, widening from the 2.7% drop in the second quarter.
• Managed care admissions fell 6.3%.
• The company estimates bad debt expense at 16.4% of net operating revenue, compared with 14.9% earlier.

Mark Twain had it right: “Plain clarity is better than ornate obscurity.”

In trading today, the stock hit a low of $6.97 and closed at $7.06, a decline of 15% from two trading days earlier.

Postscript:
With Tenet continuing to sell off "money losing facilities" to cut losses and losses continuing to mount... we will soon be approaching a critical mass condition: once all the losers are sold off, and Tenet is reduced to about 23-26 profitable facilites, will Tenet survive?

Probably not... for several reasons:

1) It will be so small that several entities will be large eonugh to buy it from under the current CEO & Board of Directors infested with NME/Tenet legacy crooks from the Jeffrey Barbakow regime.

2) Tenet will likely not earn enough in "profits" to cover all the still pending lawsuits it will yet face & probably lose in court battles in NOLA and Pennsylvania... those probable settlements will be very costly!

3) Tenet will be spending many millions to comply with the newest Corporate Integrity Agreement that will hobble its freedom to react in the marketplace for the next five years. All this wasted revenue that Piedmont Medical Center patients will have to help Tenet pay because of the unethical frauds perpetrated during ROUND 2 of Medicare FRAUD ($1.6 billion)... which includes activities right here in RH at PMC under the administration & direction of CEO Charlie Miller, who was an National Medical Enterprises executive brought in by Tenet after buying AMI with money left over after Round 1 of Medicare FRAUD ($1.0 billion) committed back in the early 1990s!

Reporter Julie Graham has written such a sob story about the tough fortunes Tenet faces trying to make an "honest buck" in York county! However, before you feel too sorry for them, a review:

Pricing at NME/Tenet's Piedmont Medical Center...
Submitted by ravencroft on Tue, 2006-01-31 21:12.
Why would we expect York County to be spared this fate at OUR NME/Tenet facility: Piedmont Medical Center? Can you get "equals 4" from 2+2? The "contract with York County" is there to be broken... for as long as it takes anyone to wise up! Historical Fact!

Some thoughts about NME/Tenet Price Gouging you might want to reflect upon seriously… then decide to support one of the other choices to build the Fort Mill facility… which it seems most in York County would prefer if they took the time to investigate! r.

News gleaned from Australian website found in other US papers... not pages of The Herald:

An activist eventually rallied the uninsured and often unemployed Latinos who were charged inflated prices and then pursued aggressively for payment by Tenet. They fought back eventually gouging Tenet's reputation and its credibility. The nursing unions initiated a series of studies looking at available pricing information. They published the results and presented at several inquiries into Tenet's practices shredding the company's credibility and savaging share prices further. The extent of the price gouging and its impact on citizens is illustrated by a number of extracts from press reports.

The nurses found that Tenet targeted orthopaedic surgery, particularly spinal surgery, most of which was covered by workman's compensation which paid 50% more than competitors. These areas and workmen's compensation had been a target of Tenet's complex care strategy and its price gouging. Monitoring processes at workers compensation were absent and it was impossible to tell the extent to which fraud, outlier payments or needless surgery had occurred. The figures needed to assess this were not available. Tenet strongly denied these assertions.

Tenet's conduct is a prime example of the failure of market forces to either contain costs or to maintain quality. In fact the company thrived by compromising both. It was the community and the nurses, not the market, who addressed the problem.

* In California, where Tenet owns 42 of the state's 450 hospitals, the hospital chain charges far more than rivals for identical medical procedures.

In 2000, for example, Tenet's California hospitals charged an average of $73,038 for pacemaker implants, 81 percent more than the $40,452 charged by non-Tenet hospitals, according to state government figures analyzed by the Service Employees International Union. Tracheostomies, at $569,672, were 69 percent higher at Tenet than in the rest of the state, where they average $336, 579. "Tenet is engaged in turbocharging," said Steve Askin, health care research coordinator for the union in Los Angeles.

* A complicated case of pneumonia cost $30,500 on average in a Philadelphia Tenet hospital and $18,614 at non-Tenet hospitals, state data analyzed by the Service Employees International Union show. Tenet Healthcare under informal SEC probe USA TODAY November 18, 2002

* Tenet Healthcare Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., and HCA, Nashville, own 44 of the nation's 100 most expensive operating rooms, according to a report by the California Nurses Association and the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, Orinda, Calif. Other for-profit companies accounted for an additional 17 of the most-expensive ORs, meaning that for-profit companies owned 61 of the 100 most-expensive ORs, the report said. - - - The report was based on a comparison of federal Medicare cost reports for about 4,500 U.S. hospitals for fiscal 1999 and 2000. In addition, - - - - for-profit hospitals accounting for nine of the 10 ORs with the highest markups. Criminality in Managed Care AP Newswires May 23, 2003

(WHOAAAA! Over two-thirds of the nation's 61 most expensive operating rooms owned by for-profit-companies belong to NME/Tenet and HCA! INDEED, sixty-one percent of the nation's 100 most expensive operating rooms belong for-profit-companies! AND for-profit hospitals account for 9 of the 10 ORs with the highest markups... ninety percent of the top ten! Wonder how many of those NINE belong to NME/Tenet? Looks like the statistics are beginning to put NME/Tenet at the forefront of the RIP-OFF pack! r.)

* Nine Texas hospitals were among the 100 most expensive hospitals in the country in a survey released Wednesday, and embattled Tenet Healthcare Corp. owns eight of them.

The survey monitored all charges for inpatient and outpatient services and other financial categories, and found that the nation's 100 most expensive hospitals mark up their gross charges by an average of 525 percent over their costs. Tenet Healthcare owns eight of nine Texas Hospitals labeled most expensive The Dallas Morning News June 12, 2003

* Nine of the 100 most expensive hospitals in the United States are in South Florida, and all but one are owned by Tenet Healthcare Inc., according to a study released on Wednesday by the California Nurses Association.

It(Ca. Nurses Assn) found that Tenet owns 64 of the highest-cost hospitals, including those ranked 1-14 on the list.

ARE YOU FOLKS GETTING THAT? bears repeating...

It(Ca. Nurses Assn) found that Tenet owns 64 of the highest-cost hospitals, including those ranked 1-14 on the list.

The report indicated that chain hospitals generally charge far more than independent hospitals and those run by nonprofit groups. Tenet hospitals are priciest, study says by South Florida Sun-Sentinel June 12, 2003

* A study for the California Nurses Association said that investor-owned hospitals account for 82 of the top 101 acute-care hospitals as ranked by charge-to-cost ratio, including 64 hospitals operated by Tenet Healthcare Corp.
For-profits lead in charges exceeding costs: CNA Modern Healthcare June 11, 2003

!!!! Excuse me… DID that just say that in 2003 NME/Tenet owned 64 of the 82 investor-owned hospitals... NME/Tenet owned 78% of the investor-owned that were included in the top 101 HIGHEST PRICED? Not surprising then, that in 2003 Aetna would begin having issues with NME/Tenet about pricing nationwide, including Piedmont Medical Center!

Thank goodness NME/Tenet's business is TANKING and they NOW only own 69 facilities nationwide! Too bad they OWN Piedmont Medical Center here! But that does not mean they should own all our hospitals in York County!! r.

Follow Up: At this time, Tenet has suffered further self-inflicted damage to its reputation & business... and has been reduced to about 62 facilities! More bad news is sure to follow since the same corrupt senior management that spawned Emperor Charlie I is still entrenched and in control!

Does this mean Tenet's Piedmont Medical Center rates are still too high until this adjustment? How long have they been too high? Since before 2002 when the scandals about Medicare fraud broke... and the VIOLATIMG that wondrous "keep 'em honest" contract was discovered? They had been breaking the contract for 3 years then... and this is about 4 years later on... Has Emperor Charlie I been sticking it to us all that time?

ARE YOU GOING TO GO BACK 7 GIVE REFUNDS TO ALL SINCE 2002, Mr. Miller?

Why should we not feel like pressing charges against the criminal extortioners at Tenet's Piedmont Medical Center, Charlie Miller, Joel Grice, & SCDHEC? Our interests are being totally ignored as residents of York County and patients who might be forced to USE Tenet's services!

Is this like after the date... and Tenet says... BUT I love you and I lowered my rates... why do you feel like I took advantage of you last night? Others might take advantage and are terrible cads, but WE at Tenet are fine upright citizens!

OH Yeah? Right, Charlie! You & Tenet are still NME/Tenet crooks with nothing but a history of deceit