Tenet Healthcare Corporation
Leadership History
4 leaders · 1993 to present
Saum Sutaria is the CEO of Tenet Healthcare, in the role since 2019. The first chief executive was Jeffrey Barbakow, from 1993.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saum Sutaria | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 2019 | Present | 7 |
| Ronald A. Rittenmeyer | Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 2017 | 2021 | 4 |
| Trevor Fetter | Chief Executive Officer | 2003 | 2017 | 14 |
| Jeffrey Barbakow | Chief Executive Officer | 1993 | 2003 | 10 |
Tenet Healthcare's official story is about 50 acute care hospitals and more than 500 ambulatory surgery centers generating $20.68 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue. The real story is more specific: a company that inherited the wreckage of Oral Roberts' failed $80 million City of Faith medical center, survived a $900 million Medicare fraud settlement in 2006, and has since rebuilt itself into a business whose most valuable asset is a revenue cycle management subsidiary most people have never heard of. The 99,000 employees spread across 30 states handle 4.2 million inpatient admissions annually. That is the visible operation. The less visible operation is Conifer Health Solutions, a revenue cycle management subsidiary that reduced internal days in accounts receivable to 48 days in fiscal 2024, meaningfully below the industry average of 54 days, by deploying AI-driven patient engagement software that processes claims faster than competitors' systems. The hospital segment achieved a 12.8% adjusted EBITDA margin in fiscal 2024, which management directly attributed to cutting contract labor costs by 45% compared to the fiscal 2022 peak. The travel nurse crisis that inflated labor costs across the industry hit Tenet hard, the company's response was to invest in permanent staffing infrastructure rather than continue paying premium rates to temporary contract workers. Revenue has grown from $19.1 billion in fiscal 2022 to $20.68 billion in fiscal 2024, a steady increase that reflects both the ambulatory surgery center expansion and the USPI segment's 6.5% same-facility revenue growth driven by high-acuity orthopedic and gastroenterology procedures. The company has also retired more than $4 billion in debt since 2020, reducing its leverage ratio to 2.1x. The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
2019 – Present
7 years (current)
CEO since 2021 and chairman, Sutaria has expanded USPI's ambulatory surgery footprint, sold non-core hospitals, reduced debt and returned capital through buybacks, lifting the consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin to 21.4% in 2025.
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
2017 – 2021
4 years
Rittenmeyer became chief executive in 2017 after Trevor Fetter left under pressure from shareholders.
He cut costs and expanded the USPI surgery-centre business. Saum Sutaria succeeded him as chief executive in September 2021.
Chief Executive Officer
2003 – 2017
14 years
Fetter was appointed CEO in the aftermath of the devastating $900 million Medicare fraud settlement, and he led the agonizing, decade-long process of cultural transformation, operational turnaround, and financial deleveraging that eventually stabilized the company and rebuilt its reputation as a disciplined healthcare operator.
Chief Executive Officer
1993 – 2003
10 years
Barbakow orchestrated the 1995 merger between National Medical Enterprises and American Medical International, creating the modern Tenet Healthcare Corporation, but his tenure was later marked by intense regulatory scrutiny and billing scandals that forced his resignation in 2005.
The single most immediate and financially dangerous challenge threatening Tenet Healthcare's operating margins in FY2024 and extending into FY2025 is the structural escalation of contracted labor costs and the persistent, localized nursing shortages that force the company to rely on expensive travel nurses and agency staff to maintain safe patient-to-nurse ratios in its acute care hospitals.
Dr. Saum Sutaria serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tenet Healthcare Corporation, having assumed the CEO role in September 2021 and the Chairman position in 2023.
Dr. Sutaria practiced internal medicine and cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco before spending 18 years at McKinsey & Company as an Associate Senior Partner leading its global healthcare provider practice. He joined Tenet in 2019 as Chief Operating Officer.
Dr. Sutaria orchestrated Tenet's multi-billion dollar pivot toward ambulatory surgery (USPI), executed non-core hospital divestitures to pay down debt, slashed leverage to ~2.3x EBITDA, expanded EBITDA margins past 21%, and instituted strict operational discipline.
Ronald A. Rittenmeyer served as CEO and Executive Chairman from 2017 to 2021. Known as a corporate turnaround specialist, he flattened corporate management, cut hundreds of millions in overhead, initiated hospital divestitures, and mentored Saum Sutaria as his successor.
Trevor Fetter led Tenet for 14 years through tumultuous recovery following early-2000s billing scandals. He resolved the 2006 federal Medicare settlement, founded Conifer Health Solutions in 2008, and spearheaded the landmark 2015 acquisition of USPI.
Former investment banker Jeffrey Barbakow took over NME in 1993 following its psychiatric billing scandal, engineered the 1995 merger with AMI to create Tenet Healthcare, and acquired OrNda HealthCorp before resigning in 2003 amidst Medicare outlier billing controversies.
Richard K. Eamer co-founded NME in 1969 and served as Chairman and CEO for 24 years, building it into a healthcare conglomerate before resigning under board and regulatory pressure in 1993.
Sun Park serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Tenet Healthcare, overseeing capital markets, financial reporting, debt refinancing, and enterprise investor relations.
Tenet's Board includes seasoned healthcare executives, physician leaders, and financial experts who oversee independent committees for Audit, Human Resources (Compensation), and Quality, Compliance & Ethics.
Executive compensation is heavily weighted toward performance-based equity incentives tied to Adjusted EBITDA growth, Free Cash Flow conversion, Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), and clinical quality metrics.
In 2017, activist hedge fund Glenview Capital pushed for board shake-ups. The board appointed Ron Rittenmeyer, restructured governance, and accelerated the operational turnaround that positioned the company for sustained multi-year profitability.
Dr. Sutaria views physicians as genuine business partners rather than hospital referral sources, utilizing co-ownership structures in USPI to align clinical excellence with financial efficiency.
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