Dive Brief:
- In continued restructuring, Tenet executive chairman Ronald Rittenmeyer announced at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that the company will raise the number of company layoffs from 1,300 to 2,000 in efforts to reduce its debt load, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- In addition, Tenet Healthcare is selling St. Louis, Mo., area Des Peres Hospital to St. Luke’s Hospital, which is also in the area. The deal, to be completed early this year, marks Tenet’s exit from the St. Louis market, according to Modern Healthcare.
- Late last month, the Dallas-based company reached an agreement to sell Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - White Rock, a 218-bed hospitals in Dallas, to Pipeline Health.
Dive Insight:
The past year was a rough one for Tenet, with a $366 million loss in the 2017 third quarter, due in part to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. In October, CEO Trevor Fetter stepped down months ahead of his planned departure. Earlier in the year, two board members from Glenview Management, Tenet’s largest shareholder, also resigned.
Since then, the system has announced a series of moves to pare down debt and refocus markets, including the sale of eight U.S. hospitals in four markets and all nine U.K. facilities. In October, Tenet signed a definitive agreement to sell Chicago-area MacNeal Hospital and related operations to Loyola Medicine, signaling its departure from the Chicago hospital market. The company also shuttered its Abrazo Maryvale Campus, a 232-bed Phoenix hospital, due to declining demand for services.
Last month, Tenet revealed it considering the sale of its revenue cycle management business, Conifer, as it broadens its cost-reduction efforts.
Tenet recently stated it anticipates tax payments to be $10 million to $20 million lower over the next few years due to the tax overhaul scheme signed into law by President Donald Trump late last month. The tax cut is due to repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax, which requires businesses to add back certain deductions to ensure they pay at least some amount of tax.
“We anticipate approximately 80% of capital expenditures in 2018 should qualify for immediate expensing,” Tenet said in the release.
The Dallas-based health system also is partnering with the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York to build an orthopedic care center in West Palm Beach, Fla. The center will be adjacent to Tenet’s Good Samaritan Hospital and staffed by HHS physicians.
Tenet’s struggles are indicative of the hospital industry in general, which has had to adjust to lower reimbursement, smaller inpatient volumes and a shift to providing more in outpatient settings.