Columbia building hospital empire

The health-care industry, especially hospital acquisitions and mergers, is perhaps the only industry where supply causes demand, rather than the reverse.Hospital acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures have come on the scene with hurricane force in the 1990s, and the leader of the pack is Columbia Healthcare Corp., formerly Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.
Richard Scott, president and CEO of Columbia, has been dubbed the hospital czar by Time magazine and listed as one the 25 most influential people in America.
Today, at age 43, Scott has put together the largest hospital network in the United States, with more…