Whistleblower Wants Tenet to Come Clean

Earlier, Tenet had rushed to reassure investors by hiring the prestigious Mercer Consulting Group to independently evaluate Redding's past activities. But the company has since refused to share results of that study even as it volunteered another Mercer report -- showing a smattering of unnecessary surgeries -- at a different California hospital.

All along, Tenet has sought to distance itself from Redding's former star surgeons while portraying the hospital as a single Tenet facility whose problems are isolated rather than systemic in nature. But Tenet itself eagerly pointed to Redding as its "flagship" hospital before the taint of scandal set in.

Young, for one, isn't buying Tenet's arguments.

"Roughly two years ago, Tenet bragged about Redding, indicating it was a cutting-edge facility and how pleased they were with the shop, volumes and types of procedures," Young said. "They knew then Redding's profile was abnormal. ... They were looking to replicate that model."

Nasty Bugs

By this time, Tenet's profit-rich strategy was starting to come under fire more than half a continent away.

The first of more than 100 patients and survivors began suing Tenet's Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center in Florida, complaining of lax infection control and poor quality care. Ultimately, the federal government issued a rare "death threat," warning that it would halt Medicare and Medicaid payments if the hospital didn't clean up its act. Although the hospital escaped this sentence, frightening reminders of past conditions -- blamed for chest-rotting infections -- continue to surface as the pending litigation moves forward.

In mid-June, Tenet attempted to secure a gag order to bar plaintiff attorneys from discussing details about their clients' cases against Palm Beach Gardens. But Tenet's motion failed, and attorney Cal Warriner -- who'd collected exterminator reports -- went on to proclaim that the hospital had bug zappers in the operating rooms, ant problems in the intensive care unit and flies breeding in the mop closets.