HEALTH

HCA Psychiatric Hospital Restructuring: In the latest sign of the continuing shakeout in the for-profit psychiatric hospital industry, Hospital Corp. of America said it would sell as many as 22 of its 48 psychiatric hospitals. Thomas Frist, chairman of the Nashville, Tenn.-based hospital chain, said the restructuring was in response to empty beds and increasing downward pricing pressures from insurers. More than 40% of the hospitals HCA plans to sell are in Texas, where state investigations have created massive negative publicity for the entire psychiatric hospital industry.