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Tenet chief admits company made mistakes

The admission comes as the hospital chain reports a big financial loss.

By Katherine Vogt, amednews staff. Dec. 1, 2003.

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More light has been shed on the troubles at Tenet Healthcare Corp., which reported a $308 million net loss on third-quarter earnings, and whose new CEO recently acknowledged that the hospital chain has suffered from past mistakes.

According to published reports, CEO Trevor Fetter admitted during a Nov. 11 conference call with investors that "something went very wrong at Tenet." He said in some cases the company had "seemed to confuse what was legal with what was right."

Tenet has been at the center of several government probes in the last year, including investigations of its Medicare billing practices and its physician relocation agreements. In August, the company agreed to pay $54 million to settle claims that physicians performed hundreds of unnecessary heart procedures at one of its hospitals. Tenet did not admit any wrongdoing.

Fetter acknowledged that Tenet "is a troubled company, but at its core it is also an organization that has a great number of caring people." He said the company was taking responsibility for past mistakes and would work to overcome them.

Tenet's third-quarter loss amounted to 66 cents per share, compared with net income of $328 million, or 66 cents per share, for the same period last year. Net operating revenue was $3.3 billion, down 6.4% from $3.5 billion a year earlier. The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based chain blamed the loss in part on unpaid hospital bills, various charges, as well as lower revenue from outlier payments.