Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE:THC - news), one of the biggest U.S. hospital companies, on Tuesday posted a narrower quarterly loss after being hit by damage from Hurricane Katrina a year earlier, and as it continues to suffer from weak patient admissions.

The company posted a net loss of $89 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $401 million, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company warned late last month it would report a net loss of $82 million to $92 million, or 17 cents to 20 cents per share.

Admissions from continuing operations declined 3.3 percent, exacerbated by tighter Medicare requirements. Admissions from private insurers fell by 6.3 percent.

Hospitals are suffering from the impact of rising numbers of patients without health insurance, and Tenet has been harder hit as it continues to recover from a series of government probes on charges it inflated Medicare billing.

Revenue fell 1.5 percent to $2.1 billion from $2.2 billion a year earlier.