Tenet sees $31 million loss for Q1

Dogged by expenses from lawsuits, Tenet Healthcare announced a $31 million first-quarter loss. Tenet reported a net loss of $31 million for the first quarter of this year, compared with a profit of $75 million for the same quarter last year when it enjoyed a $92 million tax gain. This quarter, Tenet faced litigation costs of $47 million pre-tax, which it set aside for wage and hour lawsuits and other employment matters. On the brighter side, its facilities saw a 1 percent increase in total admissions for this quarter compared to the first quarter of last year. Tenet also saw a drop in charity admissions due to an increased number of patients qualifying for Medicaid.

The unprofitable earnings report doesn't seem to have shocked Wall Street, which actually rewarded the company with a slight gain in its stock price the day the results were released. However, it is something of a counterweight to a recent favorable report from high-profile healthcare analyst Ken Weakly of Credit Suisse Securities, who ranked the stock as "outperform" and predicted a major improvement in its fortunes.

To learn more about Tenet's results:
- read this press release

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