CalPERS Considers Suing Columbia/HCA

The California Public Employees Retirement System and the Pennsylvania state pension fund said they may sue Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. directors over a government probe of the company that has sent shares plunging. Earlier at the Council of Institutional Investors conference in San Francisco, new Columbia Chairman and Chief Executive Thomas Frist assured fund officials he could resolve the probe and restore growth. The addition of the CalPERS and Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System funds would significantly widen litigation already pending against Nashville-based Columbia by other pension funds. Columbia’s shares fell 75 cents to close at $28.13 on the NYSE.