(December 10)  JOSHUA TREE—The Hi-Desert Memorial Health Care District board of directors on December 3 voted to enter into an affiliate relationship with Dallas, Texas-based Tenet Healthcare.
In response to falling revenues and continuous budget shortfalls, the board hired Jon Spees, the senior vice president of the Camden Group to serve as a consultant to map out a strategy for achieving economic stability while continuing to provide adequate and comprehensive care for patients in Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree, Yuccaa Valley and Morongo Valley, including the hiring of more medical care specialists. Spees’ recommendation was that the hospital enter into a partnership with a large corporation that possesses the resources to help Hi-Desert Memorial achieve its goals.
After soliciting letters of intent from health care provision entities, the district received responses from Strategic Global Management and Tenet Health
Ultimately, the board voted 5-0 in favor of Tenet, a $4.2 billion company, which has a working relationship with 81 hospitals nationwide, over 200 outpatient centers and 36,000 physicians.
Board member Joe Sullivan was particularly laudatory of Tenet’s reach throughout the medical profession and its ability to attract physician specialists of all type.