Update re AHERF--PA's largest hospital network failure and nation wide effect

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

From Healthleaders.com

December 2001

2001 Year in Review

The year began with high hopes for the passage of a federal patients' bill of rights and plans for the adoption of hipaa privacy regulations. But the events of sept. 11 rearranged many national priorities and changed the healthcare agenda in one fell stroke. With the focus now shifted to domestic preparedness, we take a look back at the past year, and consider where we go from here.

Out of the Ashes

The downfall of Allegheny, Pennsylvania's largest hospital network, shook the bond markets and led to criminal allegations. Now, after Tenet's efforts, some are finding a silver lining. By Bonar Menninger

When Pennsylvania's largest hospital network-the Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation-careened into bankruptcy in mid-1998, the impact reverberated across the state and around the nation.

Full story:

http://www.healthleaders.com/magazine/feature1.php?contentid=30185&categoryid=152

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Hi. Question. Did the executives being investigated manage to safeguard their financial assets from this bankruptcy? We know the employees were greatly affected. You know this failure smells a little or maybe alot like the Enron/Arthur Andersen catastrophe.

I'm glad that Tenet was able to help get the Allegheny system back on it's feet and stable. I know that many of the employees are relieved as well as the state, the mayor of that city and the other representatives.

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Specializes in Hospice, Critical Care.

My hospital was one of the AHERF casualties. I haven't read the link yet...part of me rebels against anything with the word AHERF in it. They tore apart our financially respectable community hospital and left us in the ditch on the side of the road. Eventually another large area hospital system acquired us and are putting us back on our feet financially but the scars are deep. And now being part of a big "system," we are under constraints that we have never had to deal with before.

Oh, how I long for the days when we were our own "man" and could stand on our own two feet and make our own decisions regarding benefits, payrates, etc. Now everything comes down to us from "the system." *sigh*

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Hi. Oh well! So much for complete employee relief!

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