Corporate Report

Corporate Report

Gulf Coast hospitals part of statewide settlement

A trio of Gulf Coast hospitals will get part of a $6 million settlement in a case where the state of Florida alleged that Tenet Healthcare Corp. falsely inflated its hospitals' charges to obtain reimbursements from a Medicare fund.

The three hospitals in the Gulf Coast area to receive part of the settlement are Cape Memorial Hospital in Cape Coral, Lee Memorial Healthcare System in Fort Myers and Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota. Ten other hospitals in the state are included in the settlement.

Public hospitals depend on a special Medicare program, known as the Outlier Fund, to obtain reimbursement for expensive procedures whose costs greatly exceed Medicare's standard reimbursement rates, such as coronary bypass surgery, Florida Attorney general Charlie Crist said in a statement. According to the settlement, Tenet artificially increased its charges to improperly access a significant portion of the limited monies in the Outlier Fund, thereby preventing Florida public hospitals from obtaining legitimate reimbursement for their expensive procedures.

Crist's office filed the federal Medicare lawsuit in March, 2005. The alleged fraudulent activity took place between 2000 and 2003.

Under the settlement, Tenet will contribute close to $6 million to be disbursed to the public hospitals according to the level of indigent care and expensive procedures provided by each facility. Tenet will also pay the state approximately $1 million for costs of the investigation.

Dallas-based Tenet is the nation's second-largest for-profit hospital chain in the United States, owning or operating 71 acute care hospitals with 18,149 licensed beds, including 15 hospitals in Florida.

Aclarian Mortgage signs

on new companies

Sarasota-based Aclarian Mortgage replaced Wells Fargo as the preferred lender for White & Associates, an Atlanta-based real estate marketing, management and development firm with projects in Florida. White & Associates recently completed the conversion of a 108-unit Sarasota community, Park View Condominiums, and will break ground on a 119-unit condominium development called Lakeside.

White & Associates is the one of the latest companies to switch to Aclarian because of its new preferred lender program that targets select builders and developers. The company followed San Jose, Calif.-based software developer PUSHMx, one of the first to make the switch.

In a separate announcement last month, Aclarian Mortgage said it also been retained as the preferred lender for Sarasota based homebuilder Jade Homes. Jade Homes Vice President Jason Coles credited Aclarian's cutting-edge technology, which has gained national attention for its ability to smooth out the communications involved in the loan process.

Aclarian Mortgage has offices in Lakewood Ranch, downtown Sarasota and Siesta Key.

Free Internet access

available at SRQ

Fliers at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport will have access to free Wi-Fi Internet access in the terminal building. The service debuted Feb. 27. The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority is offering Wi-Fi to the public as part of its initiatives to enhance customer friendliness at the airport.

GrayRobinson ranks

No. 1 in the state of Florida

Thomson Financial, a national database for municipal bond issues, ranked the law firm GrayRobinson's public finance team No. 1 in the state of Florida and 26th in the nation for 2005. Some of the notable municipal bond issues handled by the firm last year include Tampa and Miami airports, Tampa and Canaveral ports, Tampa Bay Water Authority, Reedy Creek Development District, Broward County Schools and Raymond James Stadium. The firm has handled more than $7.9 billion in public finance offerings in the past five years.

The firm has offices in Clermont, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Key West, Lakeland, Melbourne, Naples, Orlando, Tallahassee and Tampa.

St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport

beings flights to the United Kingdom

British air carrier Flywho will start international flights from St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport to United Kingdom Birmingham International Airport (BIA) beginning in July. Flywho selected St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Orlando-Sanford as the two destinations in Florida that will carry flights to BIA, UK's second largest airport outside of London. Non-stop flights to St Petersburg-Clearwater will arrive and depart each Thursday.

Tampa bank handles

Sale of company

Tampa investment bank Hyde Park Capital Advisors LLC advised Coral Springs-based Pulsar Technologies Inc. on its recent sale to Pennsylvania electronic instruments manufacturer AMETEK Inc. Privately-held Pulsar, which makes specialized communications equipment for electric utilities, has annual sales of about $10 million. No sale price was disclosed by AMETE, which lists its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

RedVector gets

$2 million for growth

Tampa-based RedVector Inc., which provides online education for architects, engineers and contractors, received a $2 million investment from BOCF LLC, a subsidiary of Delaware-based Stonehenge Capital Co., a national private equity and venture capitalist firm. RedVector will use the money for growth capital and buy back stock from existing shareholders.

Winn-Dixie to close more Florida stores

Jacksonville-based grocery chain Winn-Dixie said it would be closing another 35 stores, including eight in the Gulf Coast, as part of its reorganization after filing for bankruptcy last year.

Winn-Dixie is trying to identify potential buyers for the stores. Stores that can't be sold will be closed.

Winn-Dixie currently operates 585 stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and the Bahamas. The cuts will reduce the number of stores to 550. Ten stores remain temporarily closed because of Hurricane Katrina.

The stores in the Gulf Coast market include: 4502 E. State Road 64, Bradenton; 5400 Clark Road, Sarasota; 3365 U.S. Highway 19 North, Palm Harbor; 4479 Gandy Blvd., Tampa; 4015 Santa Barbara Blvd., Naples, 12628 East Tamiami Trail, Naples; 4151 Hancock Bridge Park, Fort Myers; 2301 Del Prado Blvd, Cape Coral.

ETC...

? Coast Financial Holdings Inc., parent company of Coast Bank of Florida, opened a new branch in Pinellas County. The Dunedin branch is located at 2046 Bayshore Blvd.

? The Manatee Chamber of Commerce added blogging to its website. The Chamber's new blogging is located at: www.ManateeChamber.com/Blog/Blog.html.