Troubles grow as Tenet ends 2004 with $2 billion quarterly loss

The hospital chain's financial problems are being compounded by its legal woes.

By Katherine Vogt, AMNews staff. March 28, 2005.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. announced a $2 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2004, as developments with its legal woes kept the troubled hospital chain in the public spotlight.

The Dallas-based company said it suffered in the fourth quarter from decreases in patient volumes and several hefty charges, including a $1.1 billion asset writedown. The total loss for the three months that ended Dec. 31 compared with a loss of $954 million for the same period a year earlier. For the full year 2004, Tenet posted a $2.6 billion loss, or $5.66 per share.

Tenet also said its fourth-quarter revenue fell because of its Compact with the Uninsured program, which provides discounts to uninsured patients. Total operating revenue for the period was $2.41 billion, down from $2.46 billion a year earlier.

The program for the uninsured may be bolstered under a proposed legal settlement that was announced March 10 and aims to resolve several class-action lawsuits that challenged how the for-profit hospital chain charges patients who have little or no insurance.

Under the agreement, Tenet, which did not admit liability, would adopt policies affecting the uninsured, including discounts, reasonable payment schedules and financial counseling. Tenet would also provide reimbursements to uninsured patients who paid more than a certain percentage of hospital gross charges between June 15, 1999, and Dec. 31, 2004.