Drexel rejects Allegheny deal

The Associated Press Drexel's board of directors voted yesterday not to enter into an academic affiliation with Allegheny University of the Health Sciences, which includes the medical school. Tenet's bid to buy Allegheny's Philadelphia-area empire in a $345 million deal in Pittsburgh federal bankruptcy court was contingent on Drexel's involvement. Now Tenet must either find another academic partner for the school by the court-imposed deadline date of October 21, or hope a bankruptcy court judge grants it an extension. ''That deadline date will probably have to be extended,'' Tenet spokesperson Lance Ignon said last night. He did not say when the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based for-profit company would file court papers seeking more time. Allegheny has reported its university suffered more than $25 million in losses in fiscal 1998. Drexel officials did not directly mention the debt in a statement about the decision. The decision puts on hold temporarily any plans for layoffs or staff shake-ups at Allegheny's eight area hospitals and the university, Ignon said. Ignon said Tenet was aggressively pursuing other possible partners for the medical school. He declined to name the interested parties.