Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) announced today that Park Plaza Hospital in Houston, Texas and its chief executive officer Lex Guinn have been selected to the company’s 2003 Circle of Excellence. In addition, the hospital’s chief financial officer, Charles Handley, and chief nursing officer, Terry Kirk, have received the company’s highest awards for their outstanding performance. These annual awards recognize outstanding performance by the hospital and the CEO, CFO and CNO in a number of key areas, including achievements in patient care and customer service, improvement in quality and clinical processes, and dedication to ethics and compliance.

"Under their leadership, Park Plaza Hospital has shown significant progress in meeting the health care needs of the community it serves," said Trevor Fetter, Tenet’s acting chief executive officer and president. "It’s a remarkable accomplishment for the hospital to receive Circle of Excellence, Outstanding Chief Financial Officer and Outstanding Chief Nursing Officer Awards at the same time. I applaud the hard work and dedication of Lex, Charles and Terry."

Guinn, a five-time Circle of Excellence Award recipient, started his career in health care almost 15 years ago as an associate administrator at Park Plaza Hospital. He left in 1990, then returned last year as CEO. Guinn has brought invaluable experience and vision to Park Plaza and has significantly improved operations at the hospital.

Handley, a two-time Outstanding Chief Financial Officer Award recipient, does double duty as CFO for both Park Plaza Hospital and Plaza Specialty Hospital. Over the last 18 months, he has worked to improve the management of the admitting and materials management department, as well as the hospital’s central business office.

Kirk, who has received the Outstanding Chief Nursing Officer Award two years in a row, came to Park Plaza Hospital after a very successful career at Tenet’s Brownsville Medical Center. Over the last year, he has put together a team that is totally focused on improving patient care at the hospital. Under Terry’s leadership, nursing turnover is down significantly.

Tenet’s divisional and regional management nominates candidates for the Circle of Excellence Award, Outstanding Chief Financial Officer Award and Outstanding Chief Nursing Officer Award from the hospitals they supervise. Winners are selected based on both objective criteria, such as patient, physician and employee satisfaction scores, and subjective evaluations.