Reply #69: FIRINGS TIMELINE and HHS Seeks to Knock Out TENET's Alvarado Hospital [View All]

[L. Coyote]

Tenet was facing, on May 10, a (quoting Kyle Sampson's May 11 e-mail) "real problem we have right now with Carol Lam"
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May 10, 2006
HHS Seeks to Knock Out San Diego Hospital
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/2006/05/hhs_seeks_to_kn.html

The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services is seeking the ultimate punishment against a San Diego hospital by seeking to bar it from participating in federal healthcare programs, most importantly Medicare and Medicaid. An OIG release (here) states that the Department has issued a notice to Alvarado Hospital Medical Center and its corporate parent, Tenet HealthSystems Hospitals, Inc., that it is seeking the bar because of alleged illegal kickbacks paid to doctors in exchange for patient referrals. Alvarado and its CEO have been tried twice on criminal anti-kickback and fraud charges in federal court in San Diego, and a hung jury resulted in mistrials both times. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California is considering whether to try the defendants again, but in the meantime HHS has acted to seek the "nuclear option" in healthcare that would likely cause the hospital to go out of business. ...................

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Office of Inspector General
For Immediate Release Washington, D.C. 20201
May 17, 2006

Tenet Agrees to Divest Alvarado Hospital

Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson announced today that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Tenet Healthcare Corporation reached an agreement concerning Tenet’s divestiture of Alvarado Hospital Medical Center (Alvarado). This agreement resolves OIG’s possible exclusion of Alvarado from participation in Medicare and all other Federal health care programs.

On May 8, 2006, OIG notified Tenet that OIG intended to propose to exclude Alvarado based on Alvarado’s alleged payment of kickbacks to physicians. Alvarado had 30 days from that prior notice to submit to OIG documentary evidence and written argument concerning the proposed exclusion. The OIG would have considered any materials submitted by Tenet when determining whether to propose an exclusion. If OIG had proposed an exclusion, Tenet would have had the right to an administrative appeal prior to the exclusion going into effect. The agreement reached today allows Tenet to sell Alvarado prior to OIG initiating an exclusion of the hospital.........

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Tenet Shows It Knows When to Fold 'Em - May 18, 2006
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/2006/05/tenet_shows_it_.html

The Department of Health & Human Services' Office of the Inspector General tried to wipe out Alvarado Hospital in San Diego by initiating a proceeding to bar it from participating in federal healthcare programs, a death sentence for any provider in the field .... Tenet Healthcare Corp, Alvarado's corporate owner, decided to avoid a nasty fight by agreeing to divest itself of the hospital, which appears to have satisfied OIG because the agency has now dropped its threat to exclude Alvarado from the federal programs. ......

Putting Kenny Rogers' advice to good use likely saved both sides from a drawn-out legal battle that Tenet probably could not win without expending significant resources. The question now is whether this will also resolve the criminal charges against the hospital and its former CEO, a case that has been tried twice and resulted in two hung juries (see below) (ph)

UPDATE: In addition to the HHS announcement, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced (press release here) that it has reached a settlement with Tenet in which the company will pay a $21 million civil penalty, and the government will not pursue a third trial on the charges against Alvarado and its former CEO. (ph)

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TIMELINE:
June 5, 2003 - Barry Weinbaum, CEO Alvarado Hospital (owned by Tenet), indicted for conspiracy to violate the federal antikickback statute and seven counts for offer and payment of illegal compensation
Oct. 20, 2005 - Eighteen Republican lawmakers, in a letter (signed by Cunningham while under investigation by Lam for corruption), criticize Lam's handling of immigration cases.
Mar. 9, 2006 - Bush signs the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act.
May 5, 2006 - CIA director Porter Goss resigns unexpectedly.
May 10, 2006 - Lam notifies DoJ she planned to serve search warrants on Kyle Foggo, who resigned two days earlier as No. 3 official at the CIA.
May 10, 2006 - HHS Seeks to Knock Out San Diego Hospital
May 11, 2006 - Kyle Sampson e-mails deputy White House counsel William Kelley, re "the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam ....
May 11, 2006 - LA Times reports Cunningham probe expanded to include CA Republican, then-House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis.
May 12, 2006 - FBI agents seizes records from Foggo's CIA offices and his suburban Vienna, Va.
May 17, 2006 - Tenet Healthcare Agrees to Divest Alvarado Hospital
May 18, 2006 - Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) provides false information to AP that Lam has prosecuted only 6% of 289 suspected immigrant smugglers.
Dec. 7, 2006 - Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, calls seven U.S. Attorneys to ask for their resignations.

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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sun, Mar. 18, 2007 - http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/16931334.htm
U.S. attorney's firing may be connected to CIA corruption probe
By Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/usa-timeline.php
TPM U.S. Attorney Purge Timeline

Tenet Hospital CEO Indicted for Allegedly Giving Doctors Incentives To Refer Patients to Hospital
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18154

U.S. v. Barry Weinbaum, Tenet HealthSystem Hospitals, Inc.
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/tenet/ustenet71703sind.pdf