LifePoint units sue Ala. system over hospital sale

Three subsidiaries of LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn., have sued Carraway Methodist Health Systems, Birmingham, Ala., over the way the not-for-profit system handled part of its sale of two hospitals to LifePoint last year. The subsidiaries contend that Carraway, which is being managed by Cambio Health Solutions, Brentwood, failed to properly conduct the post-closing audit to determine how much net working capital LifePoint received with the sale. The $28.6 million deal closed in November 2002. The lawsuit said Carraway did not hire accountants to do the analysis, as called for under the asset purchase agreement, and did not disclose its failure. As a result, the suit alleges, LifePoint's subsidiaries wrongly paid $500,000 as a post-closing adjustment. The lawsuit also alleges that Cambio officials tried to pass off incomplete and improperly prepared papers as the accounting work. Susan Hassell, a Cambio spokeswoman, said, "Cambio defends the integrity of our work." Hassell said Cambio, which is part of Triad Hospitals, Plano, Texas, is aware of the suit but isn't party to what she termed a "contract disagreement." -- by Vince Galloro