Tenet Forms Outpatient Strategic Development Group

DALLAS - Tenet Healthcare Corporation announces that it has formed a national strategic development group to focus on its freestanding and hospital-based outpatient services and facilities.

The effort will be led by Stephen E. Corbeil, a veteran Tenet hospital executive who most recently has served as senior vice president of Tenet's 18-hospital Central Northeast-Southern States region. The company also announced that Christopher M. Bird has been named vice president of outpatient services. Bird joins Tenet from his position as Western division vice president of DaVita Inc., a major provider of dialysis services nationwide.

The new outpatient group will harness Tenet's in-house expertise in business development and finance, clinical quality, technology and managed care to focus on strategic opportunities in the fast-growing outpatient care business. Outpatient services are already a significant line of business for Tenet, accounting for 29 percent of its net operating revenue in 2005. The company currently operates more than 40 imaging and diagnostic centers, more than 20 ambulatory surgery centers and a number of other outpatient facilities, both freestanding and on its general hospital campuses.

"Outpatient services are expected to grow significantly in the next several years, and our creation of this national outpatient development group is an essential element of Tenet's go-forward competitive strategy," said Reynold Jennings, Tenet's chief operating officer. "Steve Corbeil and Chris Bird will focus Tenet's efforts on developing the best opportunities in all of our markets."

Corbeil said, "Technology and managed care are driving a shift from inpatient to outpatient care. We anticipate that more than 5 million patients will use a Tenet facility in 2006 for outpatient services, including emergency room visits. We need to look no further than the advent of 64-slice scanners for cardiac diagnostics and 'virtual colonoscopies' to see the dramatic changes occurring in our business. In addition, the rise in consumer-driven healthcare will undoubtedly increase the demand for convenient, cost-effective outpatient care in a 'retail' setting."

"More than five years ago, Tenet was among the first to introduce consumer-friendly outpatient imaging and surgery centers with the construction of TenetCare facilities on a number of our hospital campuses. We intend to remain a leader in the future by developing and implementing innovative outpatient ideas and adopting new technology. A key element of our strategy will be, wherever possible, to partner and joint venture with physicians and other third parties in order to speed the development and construction of many needed projects in our communities," Corbeil added.

Corbeil said the company has more than 20 outpatient projects currently in development, most of them focused on the campuses of Tenet's acute care hospitals. He said the strategic group's goal is to ensure that every Tenet hospital and market is actively pursuing multiple outpatient growth opportunities.

Corbeil, 46, joined National Medical Enterprises, one of Tenet's predecessor companies, in 1984. He served in various administrative roles in New Orleans, St. Louis and Dallas before being named chief executive officer of HartonRegional Medical Center in Tullahoma, Tenn., in 1989. He served in various other executive positions with Tenet until 1996, when he was named chief executive officer of Medical City Dallas Hospital, North Texas Hospital for Children and Green Oaks Hospital in Texas, all of which are owned and operated by HCA-Hospital Corp. of America.

Corbeil rejoined Tenet in 1999. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a master's degree from the University of Iowa. In addition to his new role, he will continue to supervise Tenet's hospitals in Missouri, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.

From 1988 to 2000, Bird, 41, was a healthcare consultant with a number of large consulting firms, including Deloitte & Touche. He joined DaVita as vice president of its Western division in December 2001. In that position, he was responsible for overseeing 50 dialysis centers with 2,000 employees in Southern California, Arizona and Utah.

Bird holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Colorado State University, a master of public health degree from Columbia University and a master of business administration degree from Harvard University.

Source: Tenet Healthcare Corporation

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