Okay, I think I may be ready to back off this thing.
Check my first post and note my concern that this was much bigger than the simple murder of a black man who maybe was a bookie or drug dealer.
Without looking any further than this ONE web page, prompted by ShadowWraiths quote about Forest Park Hospital being the former Deaconess Hospital, I found too many coincidences to ignore.
First and foremost the word TENET jumped right out at me as I knew it was in the cipher!! Note this is a 2004 news story . . . although read on and not this line "Tenet bought Deaconess Hospital in 1997 and in 1999 changed its name to Forest Park Hospital." 1999 was the year that RM died.
The article goes on to say "Tenet, the second-largest hospital company in the United States, has been facing financial problems, government investigations of its billing practices and civil lawsuits." Ummm . . . 2nd largest--that would pull some weight.
And what if the very first line refers to "National Medical Enterprises?" It would not be odd to find someone with a made-up language and not real smart, to phonetically write the acronym as NMN (N-terprises.
While THIS article has to do with Merit Health Systems buying TENET in 2004, one wonders who the movers and shakers of Tenet were in 1998/1999 when they were taking over the local hospital that RM went to. Who was mayor of SL then? Who were the "private" people who made up "TENET?"
I think I will continue rehashing the crimes in my little corner of the world, and bow out of something MUCH bigger (and scarier) than I want to be part of. Again, as so many on other sites have said "WHY is the FBI still worried about a no-one who died/was murdered 12 years ago unless there is a MUCH BIGGER mystery involved. Be careful people. Read on for the story if you wish.
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2004/05/03/story1.html
Buyer in wings for Forest Park Hospital
St. Louis Business Journal - by Laurie Sybert
Date: Sunday, May 2, 2004, 11:00pm CDT - Last Modified: Thursday, April 29, 2004, 9:31am CDT
Related:
Health Care
A Louisville, Ky.-based hospital management company is considering buying Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s Forest Park Hospital, as well as its associated Deaconess College of Nursing, according to health-care sources.
Ty Wilburn, chairman, president and chief executive of Merit Health Systems LLC, said he would not comment on his company's possible interest.
"Merit Health Systems is a private, equity-backed owner and operator of urban community hospitals. We are interested in building our company and growing our business," Wilburn said. "When hospitals are for sale, we are oftentimes looking into it."
In January Tenet put its 450-bed Forest Park Hospital and two St. Alexius Hospital campuses, with a combined 611 beds, up for sale because of their weak financial performance. If the two are sold, Tenet would still own the 309-bed Saint Louis University Hospital and 150-bed Des Peres Hospital in St. Louis.
Tenet also is selling 19 hospitals in California, two in Louisiana, three in Massachusetts and one in Texas. Officials with Tenet, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., have said the company will take a write off of $1.4 billion to cover the divestitures.
Tenet, formerly National Medical Enterprises, bought Lutheran Hospital on Miami Street in 1984, renaming it Southpoint Hospital in 1999. Tenet bought St. Alexius on South Broadway from St. Anthony's in 2001, for about $26 million, according to a report compiled by St. Louis-based Health Capital Consultants. Tenet combined Southpoint and St. Alexius into one hospital with two campuses in 2003.Tenet bought Deaconess Hospital in 1997 and in 1999 changed its name to Forest Park Hospital.
Forest Park had a loss of $14.1 million on revenue of $115.9 million for fiscal 2002, and St. Alexius lost $1.2 million on revenue of $65 million during the same period. The data is the most current available.
Tenet, the second-largest hospital company in the United States, has been facing financial problems, government investigations of its billing practices and civil lawsuits.
The company said April 27 that it expects to post a first-quarter loss of $117 million due to costs of restructuring its operations and selling some hospitals. Last year, the company reported a net loss of $1.48 billion, compared with net income of $817 million in 2002.
"There are interested parties in Forest Park Hospital and the other hospitals in the St. Louis area, as well as all of the hospitals for sale. The process is going well, but we are not able to provide any specific details about a particular buyer or where we are in the process," said Steven Campanini, a Tenet spokesman in Santa Barbara. Tenet is selling its hospitals through a competitive bid process.
Merit's Wilburn said he would not characterize his company as a turnaround specialist of urban hospitals, but the company targets those hospitals because the market for them is weaker than for suburban hospitals.
"We think, as a company, that there is a great opportunity in bringing management skills and capital to urban community hospitals to provide better care to the community and a return on our investment. We look for hospitals that have a good reputation but may have lost their way a little bit managementwise or are short on capital resources," Wilburn said.
Merit was formed in August 2002 when a group of executives from the health-care industry, with $100 million in equity backing from Willis Stein and Partners of Chicago, bought the financially troubled Grant Hospital in Chicago. Now renamed Lincoln Park Hospital, the facility currently is undergoing a $15 million renovation. While not releasing specific revenue figures, Wilburn said Lincoln Park Hospital is now in a positive cash-flow situation.
Last month, Merit bought the Nix Health Care System in San Antonio. The Nix system includes Nix Medical Center, a medical surgical hospital in downtown San Antonio; Nix Specialty Health Center, a behavioral health and rehabilitation center on the city's northwest side; and Nix Alamo Heights, an ambulatory care and outpatient center in suburban San Antonio.
At Lincoln Park, Merit hired a new chief executive and added a member of its team to the hospital's board.
At Nix, the existing management team will remain in place, Wilburn said.
"We operate like a holding company. We retain, when appropriate, management staff. We have a very lean corporate staff. We are available to consult, strategize and help with capital, but our hospitals are run by their executives," Wilburn said.
In addition to Wilburn, Merit's management team includes Jay Weinstein, chief operating officer, based in Denver; Jonathan Spees, chief development officer, based in Santa Monica, Calif.; and John Thompson, chief financial officer, based in Louisville. Between them they have 110 years of hospital management experience, Wilburn said.
City of St. Louis officials have been concerned that the Tenet hospitals could be closed rather than sold, placing the city's urban health-care system at risk.
"While we are not at liberty to discuss what we are doing, we have met with Tenet officials and others in the health-care industry," said Ed Rhode, spokesman for Mayor Francis Slay.
