TENET HEALTHCARE: Company Reports Year-End Profits

      Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. "reported profits of $261 million for fiscal year 1998" ending May 31, "despite losses in the fourth quarter caused by several one-time charges," the Santa Barbara News-Press reports. In the fourth quarter, Tenet took charges of "$221 million primarily from planned closure or sale of hospitals and home health agencies, and $117 million to refinance $1.2 billion in debt (Ross, 7/29). Despite these charges, Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times notes that the nation's second largest hospital chain reported a rise of 9.4% in fourth-quarter revenues from $2.35 billion to $2.57 billion (7/29). Tenet Chair and CEO Jeffrey Barbakow said, "We continued to produce solid earnings growth, despite ongoing reductions in reimbursement from Medicare and other payors." Year-end revenues increased from $8.7 billion a year ago to $9.9 billion, "though the company reduced its number of hospitals from 128 to 122" last year. "Earnings per share for fiscal year 1998 were 84 cents" compared with "a loss of 84 cents for the prior year," the News-Press reports. "During the year we strengthened our portfolio by integrating the OrNda hospitals, acquiring additional hospitals in key markets, paring nonstrategic assets and gaining additional managed care contracts," Barbakow said (7/29).