Retrial of Tenet Case Is Scheduled

Prosecutors said Tuesday that they would retry a unit of Tenet Healthcare Corp., the second-largest U.S. hospital chain, and its San Diego hospital on criminal charges that they paid doctors in exchange for referrals.

U.S. District Judge James Lorenz in San Diego scheduled the retrial for March 29. Lorenz’s order comes less than a week after he declared a mistrial after jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on any of the 20 counts. After hearing more than three months of testimony, the jurors said they were deadlocked after deliberating for about five days.

Prosecutors claim that hospital administrators paid more than $10 million in kickbacks disguised as physician-relocation agreements to encourage doctors to refer patients to Tenet’s Alvarado Hospital.

If found guilty, the hospital’s former chief executive may go to jail and the 311-bed Alvarado and the unit that owns it could be excluded from some government programs.

“We’re ready to go to trial,” Robert Brewer, a lawyer for Alvarado, said after Tuesday’s hearing.

Lorenz rejected Tenet’s motion for an acquittal, saying he believed there was “sufficient evidence to deny” Tenet’s request. Tenet’s motion had been pending since before jurors began deliberations.

Shares of Dallas-based Tenet fell 15 cents to $10.63 on the New York Stock Exchange.