HealthSouth Scales Back Oracle’s Role

HealthSouth Corp. scaled back its venture with Oracle Corp. to build an automated hospital because the software maker couldn’t meet hospital deadlines, HealthSouth Chief Executive Richard Scrushy said.

Siemens, Germany’s largest electronics company, has replaced Oracle as supplier of some of the computer systems for the $200-million “digital hospital” in Birmingham, Ala., Scrushy said.

Oracle shares, which have tumbled 45% in the last year, fell 54 cents to $8.40. HealthSouth shares fell 35 cents to $13.73 and have risen 8.1% the last year. Both trade on the NYSE.