4 Columbia / HCA Employees Subpoenaed

At least four Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. employees have been called to testify before a Florida grand jury as part of a medical fraud investigation, the Nashville-based company has confirmed. Eve Hutcherson, spokeswoman for the nation’s largest for-profit health-care chain, said the employees had been subpoenaed but she would provide no other information. It was unclear whether more workers would be summoned, but the number “probably will continue to change,” she said. The employees reportedly include managers from the company’s Orlando, Fla., office. Because they have been called to testify before the grand jury, the four apparently are prosecution witnesses rather than the targets of the investigation. Last week, federal authorities conducted surprise searches at 35 Columbia hospitals and offices in seven states. Authorities have said little about what they were looking for and what they will do with the documents. Columbia has said it believes the investigation is focusing on its laboratory billing and home-health-care operations.