Tenet Transfer Extends L.A. Saga

For its part, Tenet called the deal "the best alternative for the hospitals and communities." It also indicated that it had treated We CAHRE appropriately.

"All interested parties had an equal and fair opportunity to enter the bidding process," Tenet spokesman Steven Campanini said. "We only considered bids we received; we did not receive a bid from that group."

But We CAHRE Executive Director Julie Inouye claims that Tenet "never let us get to first base" in the process. She says that Tenet ignored her group's request for information -- including a hospital prospectus -- that would have strengthened its ability to bid. Nevertheless, she says, We CAHRE persisted and was in the process of obtaining $10 million to fund operations at Marina when Tuesday's deal was announced.

Meanwhile, the newly named Centinela Freeman HealthSystem -- which has been in negotiations with Tenet for months -- managed to arrange backing from local private investment firm Westridge Capital. It will now seek the remaining capital necessary from members of its own group.

Although neither party has disclosed terms of the deal, Finnigan himself indicated that his group's funds will be used to operate -- rather than buy -- the hospitals. He told TheStreet.com on Wednesday that the group is simply raising the money necessary to run the hospitals sufficiently. And he is confident the group will succeed.

"This will be very soundly financed," he assured. "We're not concerned about whether there will be sufficient funds."

But Inouye is skeptical. During the negotiation process, the group sent out emails saying that it needed $20 million to start operating all three hospitals. Inouye says that Tenet indicated that Marina -- by far the smallest of the three facilities -- would require at least half that much by itself.