HEALTH CARE

Hospital Chain’s Profit Rises: Columbia-HCA Healthcare Corp. bucked a national trend of declining hospital admissions, which helped it to a $358-million first-quarter profit, the company said. That is 24% above the $289 million, before one-time expenses, it earned for the same period of 1994. Earnings for that period were $95 million, including expenses related to Columbia’s purchase of HCA-Hospital Corp. of America and a loss from paying off debt. The Louisville, Ky., firm is the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain. It completed its purchase of another hospital chain, HealthTrust Inc., in April, and results were reconfigured to add to HealthTrust’s performance this year and last.