COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.- Health Management Associates, Inc., headquartered in Naples, is fighting back against accusations in a "60 Minutes" report, aired Sunday on WINK-TV.   The report says HMA pressured doctors to admit patients to HMA hospitals.

The segment interviewed former employees, who claim there was a quota system:   admit 20 percent of all people who come to the emergency room, and 50 percent of all those 65 years of age and older.   Some people claim that employees would get in trouble with management, if they failed to admit enough people to the hospital.  The motive was simple:  make more money with more people in hospital beds. 

WINK News contacted HMA, which issued a rebuttal on Monday, blasting the broadcast as inaccurate. It pointed out that the report did not interview a single patient who was inappropriately admitted to an HMA hospital. The company also claims the report was based on allegations from disgruntled, former employees.

HMA also put some video segments on its website, with interviews with company executives, denying the claims.

HMA owns 70 hospitals in 15 states, including several in Southwest Florida. The company's stock did drop in price on Monday. It lost about 5.66 percent of its value, on Monday alone.

WINK News also contacted "60 Minutes" through CBS, asking to speak directly with the correspondent or producer on the segment. We were told, the correspondent was travelling Monday and could not be reached.