Union Challenge to Tenet Purchase Draws State Review

By LAURENCE DARMIENTO

Staff Reporter

Tenet Healthcare Corp.’s proposed purchase of the Daniel Freeman hospitals in Marina del Rey and Inglewood is coming under fire from the Service Employees International Union, which accuses the company of putting profits ahead of quality medical care.

The union, which is organizing health care workers at Tenet and other hospitals, claims in the report that patient care at Tenet hospitals has been compromised by short staffing of nurses and other workers.

The report was presented to the state Attorney General’s Office, which under law has the authority to review sales of non-profit hospitals to for-profit companies. Tenet is proposing to buy the two money-losing Daniel Freeman hospitals from Carondolet Health System Inc., a St. Louis-based Catholic system. If the proposed deal is not approved, Carondolet is threatening to possibly shut both hospitals in January.

The union report, which was drawn from interviews with Tenet nurses, official complaints and regulators reports, claims that patients at Tenet’s L.A. County hospitals receive about a quarter less direct care than patients at other hospitals receive, as measured by “patient care hours.”

The report cites a variety of lapses of care, from a cardiac patient who waited hours for physician-ordered treatment, to patients who developed bedsores, to newborns who didn’t get fed for hours.

Tenet spokesman Harry Anderson reacted angrily to the report, calling it a “poorly done hatchet job” that misrepresents the system’s quality of care by focusing on negative or incorrect information.

“This is clearly a polemical document intended to damage our reputation,” Anderson said.

Six of Tenet’s 27 Southern California hospitals are unionized.

Under law, the Attorney General’s Office must consider the report as it weighs whether to approve Tenet’s acquisition of the Daniel Freeman hospitals.

A consultant’s report commissioned by the Attorney General’s Office has recommended that any approval be subject to Tenet agreeing, among other conditions, to maintain Daniel Freemans’ emergency rooms for five years, a concern of community leaders and county officials. Tenet has agreed to meet the recommended conditions.

The consultant’s report does not address staffing concerns. However, a spokesman for the Attorney General said regulators believe they have the authority to impose “relevant conditions” to ensure quality of care.