Another Probe Touches Troubled Tenet

"When he is out of town, the hospital census drops significantly," William Loudon, head of the hospital's pediatric neurosurgery unit, told the Orange County Register last month.

But Chambi's surgeries often fail, the publication reported. The paper stated that Chambi is sued 10 times more often than the average Orange County neurosurgeon, and that his unit holds "so many comatose patients ... that the nurses call it 'Dr. Chambi's Garden.'"

In an interview with the newspaper, Chambi "laughed softly" at the nickname and claimed that most of the patients were already comatose when he had tried to help them.

For now, Tenet's biggest scandals remain elsewhere. The company faces more than 100 lawsuits in Palm Beach, where patients suffered severe chest disfiguration -- and even death -- after contracting serious infections blamed on unclean operating rooms. And in Redding, two of the hospital's most productive heart surgeons have essentially gone out of business amid allegations of performing unnecessary, and sometimes fatal, heart operations.

On Wednesday, one of those surgeons -- Chae Hyun Moon -- was accused of corrupt acts, fraudulent claims, gross negligence and incompetence by his own state medical board. Moon and another former Redding cardiologist, Fidel Realyvasquez, are currently under investigation by federal authorities for their past practices at Redding. Meanwhile, Redding's cardiac surgery center -- once a huge profit center -- has shut down indefinitely after a steep, hospitalwide drop in patient admissions.

Tenet has consistently denied any wrongdoing while describing patient care as its top priority. But the California Nurses Association, perhaps Tenet's most vocal critic, simply scoffs at such claims. The union expressed no surprise about the new indictment at Alvarado, where it is attempting to organize registered nurses.

"Virtually every arm of the government -- with the possible exception of the Department of Fish and Game -- is investigating Tenet," said CNA spokesman Chuck Idelson. "It's pretty apparent that Tenet is in a world of trouble."