The purchase price is approximately a third of the assessed value of thehospital and land, according to published reports. Tenet acquired ElkinsPark in late 1998 as part of an eight-hospital portfolio in the metropolitan regionthat it acquired from bankrupt Allegheny Health System. Tenet's billingpractices are now under investigation by the federal government.

It operates 114 hospitals in 16 states and recently began divesting itselfof 14 facilities nationwide in order to cut costs. Among those is ParkviewHospital here, which, having failed to attract a buyer, will close its doorson Sept. 8. Tenet continues to operate six hospitals in this region, noneof which is up for sale.

Einstein, a member of the locally based Jefferson Healthcare System,operates five major facilities in the region along with numerous outpatient andsatellite locations. The five are Albert Einstein Medical Center, GermantownCommunity Health Services, the Willow Terrace nursing home, BelmontBehavioral Health and MossRehab. It intends to relocate MossRehab to Elkins ParkHospital, which is about five miles away, while retaining some services at theexisting facility on Tabor Road.