Big LV hospital operator to change name

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Monday, Jan. 31, 2000 | 11:45 a.m.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., the largest U.S. hospital operator, said it will change its name as it distances itself from a three-year federal probe and multiple lawsuits accusing it of Medicare billing fraud.

Company officials don't know when the name will be changed or even what the new name will be, although one candidate is HCA, a reference to Hospital Corp. of America, which was the name of the company led by Dr. Thomas Frist Jr. before Columbia Healthcare Corp. bought it in 1994.

In Las Vegas, Columbia has already dropped the "Columbia" name from its flagship Sunrise hospital on Maryland Parkway. It also owns MountainView hospital and other smaller operations here.