(St. Louis)  Tenet Saint Louis’ Des Peres Hospital today announced the opening of its new Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) Unit.  The unit implements new techniques in geriatric patient care and operates under the guidance of internationally renowned Saint Louis University geriatrician Dr. John Morley and his colleagues, Drs. Joseph Flaherty and Roque Castillo with input and support from community geriatricians.

          “With this new ACE Unit, Des Peres Hospital is bringing some of the latest thinking in geriatric care to our older patients,” said Michele Meyer, chief executive officer for Des Peres Hospital. 

In the ACE Unit, older patients are placed under the care of a specialized, multi-disciplinary team, devoted to minimizing the adverse consequences of procedures, tests and medications, and to maintaining the patient’s function levels in order to reduce the length of stay in the hospital.  The ACE team consists of nurses, physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, case managers, dietitians and pastoral care staff, as appropriate.  Together, they conduct daily medical, behavioral and emotional reviews of each patient.

          “This daily team interaction helps ensure that the patient, the family and everyone on the ACE team is coordinating their efforts to assist the patient regain and maintain good function,” said Dr. Rajendra Gavini, medical director of Senior Care at Des Peres Hospital.

Reflecting the ACE unit’s philosophy of maintaining a patient’s functionality and independence, patients in the ACE Unit may:

·        Spend less time in bed and more time walking or socializing;

·        Take their meals and enjoy social and group physical therapy activities in a common area; and

·        Be encouraged to maintain as many activities of daily living as possible.

“With older patients, the key is to prevent functional decline,” explained Dr. Morley.  “Getting them up and moving quickly is vital to their recovery.  It’s important to enable them to resume their normal routines.”

 In addition to implementing some of the latest in clinical care, the unit also incorporates new concepts in the use of physical space for the fragile elderly, such as open spaces that allow for the use of walkers and wheelchairs.

Des Peres Hospital is a 167-licensed bed community hospital located at the intersection of interstate 270 and Dougherty Ferry Road.  In addition to senior care, Des Peres Hospital provides quality medical and surgical care through a wide variety of services and programs, including heart care, orthopedics and emergency care. 

Tenet Saint Louis is a 1,584-licensed bed system of academic and community hospitals and schools of nursing.  Its facilities include Des Peres Hospital, Forest Park Hospital, Saint Louis University Hospital, SouthPointe Hospital and St. Alexius Hospital

The health system employs approximately 5,500 people and cares for patients from eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and beyond. Tenet Saint Louis is the fourth-largest employer in the city of St. Louis.  Current Tenet Saint Louis hospitals combined provided care to more residents of the city of St. Louis who were hospitalized from October 1, 1999 through September 30, 2000 than any other health system.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates 114 acute care hospitals with 27,851 beds and numerous related health care services.  Tenet and its subsidiaries employ approximately 116,000 people serving communities in 16 states.  Tenet’s name reflects its core business philosophy: the importance of shared values among partners - including employees, physicians, insurers and communities - in providing a full spectrum of health care.  Tenet can be found on the World Wide Web at www.tenethealth.com.

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Certain statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements.  They are based on management’s current expectations and could be affected by numerous factors and are subject to various risks and uncertainties.  Certain of those risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.  Do not rely on any forward-looking statement, as we cannot predict or control many of the factors that ultimately may affect our ability to achieve the results estimated.  We make no promise to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise.