HEALTH

Former NME Executive Faces Criminal Charges: Peter Alexis, former regional vice president for the Psychiatric Institute of America, a subsidiary of National Medical Enterprises Inc., was charged in U.S. district court in Texas with conspiring to pay illegal kickbacks to doctors and therapists in exchange for patient referrals to company psychiatric hospitals. He was also charged with filing a Medicare cost report falsely claiming $32.3 million in operating expenses for a Ft. Worth hospital. Alexis is the highest-level former NME employee to face criminal charges in connection with the extensive federal investigation into allegations of Medicare fraud by the Santa Monica-based hospital operator.