HOSPITAL CEO'S HEALING TOUCH; ABRAHAM WINNING SUPPORT FROM EMPLOYEES, DOCTORS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Promoted last week from interim to permanent chief executive officer, Matthew Abraham is enjoying a honeymoon with Antelope Valley Hospital employees and physicians.

For example, employees in 3 Tower tell about the ice maker leaking from the floor above into the women's health department kitchen, ignored until Abraham came along two months ago.

Abraham came up himself to inspect the problem and made sure it was taken care of, a characteristically quick response, employees say.

``He's letting staff be more involved, and he deals with things as they come up, and it's dealt with right away,'' said nursing technician Mary Ryckebosch, who promoted unionization under the previous administration. ``The staff feels they have a voice and someone is paying attention to their needs and concerns. He's taking us seriously, not just dismissing it like it has been done in the past.''

From checking out leaks to passing out cookies on every floor, employees say Abraham has maintained a high visibility and is opening up lines of communication with employees, unlike his predecessor, Bob Harenski.

Jill Graciano, a seven-year registered nurse, said Abraham attends staff meetings and makes rounds with fellow administrators to ask how things are going, things past CEOs have never done.

``He's been real responsive. If you e-mail him, he will call you or e-mail you right away. If changes are made, he makes everybody aware,'' Graciano said.

Abraham started an employee relief fund in which the hospital matches what employees contribute to fellow workers in need of financial assistance due to illness or other problems.

He has changed management in response to worker's concerns and is addressing patient care and staffing issues that workers say have been ignored or neglected.

``There's been more done in the last month than in the last five years in addressing these issues,'' Ryckebosch said. ``He's looking at management and trying to figure out what the problems are on the floor.''

Physicians say they are happy too with Abraham, a former interim administrator and vice president at the hospital for nine years in the 1980s and early 1990s.

``We have seen more doctors come into (Abraham's) office to pop in and say hello than I've seen in the last nine years,'' director Steve Fox said. ``We've found somebody who knows the doctors and the employees and lives here.''

Director Gary Hill said Abraham has uncovered problems and taken immediate action to resolve them. One example was several managed care contracts on which the hospital was losing money.

``He started the renegotiating process on those. That process involved giving them termination notice and starting renegotiation so we can take losers and make them positive for hospital,'' Hill said.

Abraham is unlike his predecessor in other ways, such as his compensation package approved by the hospital board.

Hospital directors voted 4-1 at last week's meeting to make Abraham the hospital's permanent chief executive officer. Abraham had been the interim top administrator since December. The dissenting vote was cast by director Larry Chimbole, who has declined to comment on his reasons.

Harenski, who was ousted in a $275,000 buyout last September, could have been paid under his contract up to $379,419 a year. He made $536,000 in 1997 under a previous contract.

Harenski's last contract called for a base pay of $285,000 annually, with an incentive plan that would have awarded him a bonus up to 20 percent if the hospital met goals set by the board.

In addition, Harenski's contract gave him a car allowance of $1,200 a month, six weeks of paid vacation and 12 days of sick leave. The contract allowed him to cash in half of the vacation and sick days.

Under Abraham's four-year contract, the new CEO will be paid a base salary of $275,000 plus an additional 7.6 percent in deferred compensation. Abraham will receive the same life, disability and health insurance options that other hospital employees have. He gets five weeks' vacation and 12 sick days.

There are no incentive bonuses built into the contract, no car or expense allowance, and no additional supplemental retirement benefits that were a source of conflict between Harenski and the hospital board.

``The contract is fairly simple with nothing to be hidden,'' Hill said. ``There were so many things hidden and buried in the last contract, we wanted to make sure everything was spelled out neat and clean.''

While an October 1997 salary study recommended a compensation package for hospital administrators between $340,000 and $385,000, Abraham and the board agreed that his pay be below both that salary range and Harenski's in order ``to lay a foundation for a new beginning,'' Fox said in the announcement of his hiring.

After leaving Antelope Valley Hospital in 1992, Abraham engaged in a two-year legal battle with the hospital over his pay for administering a medical insurance program for hospital employees.

That was settled in 1995 when the hospital and a related nonprofit organization paid him $350,000.

Prior to rejoining the hospital in December, Abraham had been working for a hospital and medical group in Washington state. He ran a company that takes care of managed-care contracts and patients.

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PHOTO (Color) Employees say CEO Matthew Abraham is maintaining a high profile.