528
Thomas, J., dissenting
disabled, not to subsidize the education of health care professionals, cf. 42 U. S. C. § 1395c, the Secretary avoided such an inadvertent "expan[sion] [in] the range of items and services for which a provider could claim payment" by barring the redistribution of costs from educational to patient care units. 57 Fed. Reg. 43668 (1992). The Court therefore errs in reading the term "redistribution" wholly divorced from the context in which it appears. See ante, at 513 (suggesting the first clause of the anti-redistribution principle is not even "relevant" to an understanding of the second phrase). In my view, "redistribution" can only be properly understood in light of the remainder of the sentence in which it appears and in light of the related-organization rule, because interpreting a statute or regulation "is a holistic endeavor." United Sav. Assn. of Tex. v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Associates, Ltd., 484 U. S. 365, 371 (1988). Viewed in the proper textual context, § 413.85(c)'s anti-redistribution principle simultaneously expresses an intent to fund educational activities customarily conducted by teaching hospitals and disallows reimbursement for costs incurred by their affiliated educational units in conducting educational programs not customarily or traditionally engaged in by such hospitals. The Secretary's contrary interpretation, in my view, is unworthy of deference. Cf., e. g., Bowles, supra, at 414.
There can be no question that the GME activities for which petitioner seeks reimbursement are customarily or traditionally engaged in by teaching hospitals. As the District Court cogently explained in Ohio State Univ. v. Secretary, U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 777 F. Supp. 582 (SD Ohio 1991), aff'd, 996 F. 2d 122 (CA6 1993), cert. pending, No. 93-696:
"In the case of graduate medical education, it would be customary and traditional for a teaching hospital to employ qualified physicians in various medical specialties to select and supervise the interns and residents
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