MDs to buy troubled Tenet hospital

An investment group led by two pediatricians appears to have finalized an agreement to purchase of San Diego's troubled Alvarado Hospital Medical Center. Tenet Healthcare is unloading Alvarado with little time to spare. Alvarado will lose access to Medicare and Medi-Cal patients soon if the hospital isn't in new hands. Alvarado administrators faced multiple criminal and civil cases charging that they used relocation money to pay off doctors who sent patients to the hospital, but federal regulators agreed to hold off if the facility was closed or sold by February. The two acquiring physicians, Drs. Pejman and Pedram Salimpour, will pay $36.5 million for the facility.

Turning Alvarado around should prove taxing at best. The Salimpours currently run patient management services firm CareNext Health Service and non-profit NexCare Collaborative, but have never owned a hospital before. The hospital lost $15.7 million last year alone, and its medical staff relationships are shaky in the wake of the lawsuits. Also, Alvarado will probably need more than $20 million in facilities improvements, not to mention a whopping $70 million in earthquake safety upgrades. The Drs. Salimpour are either extremely brave, cocky or know something we don't!

Learn more about the deal:
- read this piece in the San Diego Union-Tribune

Related Article:
Tenet required to undergo five years of integrity monitoring. Article
Tenet pays $21M to settle Alvarado case. Report
Alvarado faces loss of federal programs. Report