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Tenet Healthcare Corporation.
-The Group`s principal activity is to own and operate general hospitals and related health care facilities in the United States. As of 31-May-2002, the Group operated 116 general hospitals with 28,667 licensed beds and related health care facilities serving urban and rural communities in 17 states and held investments in other health care companies. The health care facilities included a small number of rehabilitation hospitals, specialty hospitals, long-term care facilities, a psychiatric facility and many medical office buildings. The hospitals offer acute care services, operating and recovery rooms, radiology services, respiratory therapy services, pharmacies and clinical laboratories, intensive-care units, physical therapy, orthopedic, oncology and outpatient services. The Group also offers tertiary care services such as open-heart surgery, neonatal intensive care and neuroscience.
-NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Shares of hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Inc. (THC) hit a 26-month low on Friday after analysts downgraded the stock on disclosures of a U.S. Justice Department probe, but shares rose modestly in after-hours trade after the company sought to reassure investors.
Goldman Sachs and Prudential Securities on Friday downgraded Tenet`s shares, citing the company`s disclosure on Thursday that the U.S. Attorney`s Office in Sacramento was investigating whether two doctors at a Tenet hospital had performed hundreds of unneeded heart procedures.
Goldman cut its rating to "market outperformer" from its "recommended list," while Prudential cut its rating to "hold" from "buy."
In after hours trading while Tenet held a conference call with analysts, Tenet shares on Friday rose to $28.30, after closing down 7.8 percent at $26.50 in regular New York Stock Exchange trades. Tenet shares had hit a session low on Friday of $23.25, a level not seen since Sept. 2000, after having fallen more than $10 on Thursday.
The share has Tenet`s stock price was $49.31 at last Friday`s close. The stock fell after an analyst`s downgrade on Monday, but dropped more than $10 on Thursday on disclosures that federal officials had raided the physicians` offices and hospital`s medical archives.
Legg Mason healthcare analyst Clifford Hewitt, who has a "buy" rating on Tenet, said the two-and-a-half hour conference call on Friday provided some reassurance to investors in a week when Tenet`s crisis management was lacking.
Several top executives met with institutional investors for much of this week rather than addressing this events surrounding the company, he said.
"It`s not going to be instant, but it will come back," Hewitt said about Tenet`s share price.
An FBI agent in an affidavit filed with the U.S. Department of Justice said other physicians at a Redding, California, hospital in Northern California operated by Tenet estimated that 25 percent to 50 percent of patients of two doctors there underwent unnecessary heart surgery.
The Department of Justice is investigating the possibility of a conspiracy to commit fraud by the doctors. The affidavit said 167 patients who underwent procedures by the two doctors since December 1998 later died.
The affidavit did not charge that the deaths were the fault of the doctors, identified as Chae Hyun Moon, 55, director of cardiology, and Fidel Realyvasquez, 53, chairman of cardiac surgery at the Tenet-owned center.
Tenet officials, who described the physicians as "highly credentialed and highly respected within the community," said it is conducting its own review and would refund to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services any money that it was not entitled.
"The hospital believes that it has the appropriate utilization review and quality management processes in place to ensure that all care that is rendered to its patients is appropriate," a Tenet official said.
Tenet and Redding Medical Center are not targets of the investigation, but analysts downgrading the company said its stock could face some near-term pressure because of the probe.
UBS Warburg had downgraded the stock Monday to "reduce" on concerns about Medicare outlier reimbursements, which are payments meant to compensate hospitals for higher-than-normal treatment costs.
Tenet is planning a conference call next week to provide additional details about Medicare outlier reimbursement, company officials said.
"We are not going to come out a week from now with some material disclosure," Tenet Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Barbakow said.
The company is canceling a presentation at an investor conference next week and said it is not buying back shares under Tenet`s existing share repurchase program.
Company executives said it would not be "correct legally" to be buying back shares before it has a full discussion of the issues surrounding Medicare outlier payments and the separate issue of the investigation of the two doctors.