SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Sep 24, 2003 (AP Online via COMTEX) --

Administrator of Tenet Hospital Arrested

The associate administrator of a San Diego hospital owned by a subsidiary of Tenet
Healthcare Corp. has been arrested as part of a federal investigation into
illegal kickbacks at the facility, the company said Wednesday.

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Mina Nazaryan surrendered Monday before a federal
judge in San Diego. The U.S. attorney's complaint alleges Nazaryan took
money for arranging relocation agreements for doctors at Alvarado Hospital
Medical Center, then obstructed investigators looking into the matter, Tenet
said in a news release.

Tenet said it expects Nazaryan to be added to a federal grand jury
indictment against two Tenet subsidiaries, which was returned in July.

That indictment alleges that between 1992 and 2002, Tenet HealthSystem
Hospitals Inc. and Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc. paid more than $10
million to a fund that helped recruit doctors to the area, purportedly to
fill needs in Alvarado's service area.

Prosecutors contend a "substantial portion" of the money was given to
established physicians so they would send patients to Alvarado. In exchange
for referrals, payments allegedly went not only to recruited doctors but
also to the medical practices where they were placed.

Investigators say the payments were made with the understanding Alvarado
would receive patients from those practices.

Alvarado's chief executive officer was indicted in June on seven counts of
offering and paying illegal remuneration and one count of conspiring to
violate the federal anti-kickback statute. The 311-bed facility is located
in eastern San Diego County.

Defendants in both indictments have denied the allegations.

Santa Barbara-based Tenet has 114 hospitals in 16 states.