HOSPITAL SEEKING SOLVENCY CEO TRIES TO KEEP VALLEY PRES AFLOAT.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - When Albert Greene's wife needed help, he took her to Valley Presbyterian Hospital. When the hospital got sick, he sent himself.

At one time the preeminent hospital in the region, the 380-bed facility finds itself in challenging straits:

For the past three years, it lost money; nearly three-quarters of its patients rely on government-funded insurance that doesn't cover all the hospital's costs; with the closure of nearby Northridge Hospital Sherman Way in the fall of 2004, it has more business than ever - more than it can comfortably handle.

That's where Greene, who hired on three weeks ago as president and chief executive officer, comes in.

"The hospital has been strangled by its own success," he said.

Each year, the 48-year-old hospital admits 25,000 patients, sees an additional 40,000 in its emergency room and treats 35,000 people on an outpatient basis. With a $75 million modernization campaign begun six years ago, a 188-bed tower opened in 2004 and a $300,000 new emergency department opened last fall, the hospital has the capacity to treat the sick, but lacked the staff and the finances.

Greene, who's spent 30 years in the health care world and most recently held the top post at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, aims to fix that. Respected for his acumen in turning around troubled facilities, he seeks to rearrange the finances to allow for increased staffing and capacity.

"I live in the Valley, my kids are here, this is our hospital," he said. "I'm in an economic situation where I don't have to work. I can do what I want, but I see this as a chance to be a steward of a valuable community asset."

This doesn't appear to be idle talk of a bored, wealthy executive looking for a fixer-upper project, either. In his brief time on staff, Greene's managed to hire 15 nurses and wants to bring on 70 more. By reallocating some of the $750,000 the hospital spends each month to bring in high-priced premium labor to instead hire them outright, he thinks he can augment staff and still cut expenses by one-third.

He's also reviewing alternative means of financing for expensive technology, one of the primary costs in health care. Rather than buying imaging machines outright, which often requires an investment of millions of dollars, Greene's evaluating ways to rent, lease or acquire them through joint ventures with manufacturers. Under the latter arrangement, the hospital would get the machines free, but would trade the bulk of future revenue away to manufacturers.

Carefully minding dollars in this fashion becomes critically important with Valley Presbyterian's heavy load of Medicare and Medi-Cal patients. About 72 percent of its patients rely on the programs for insurance, which the Hospital Association of Southern California says leaves a serious reimbursement gap - 5 percent short of actual costs in the case of Medicare, close to 15 percent for Medi-Cal.

"Do we have to worry about the doors closing? No," Greene said. "The issue is whether this hospital can offer the services and technology this community needs."

When Catholic Healthcare West opted to shut down Northridge Hospital Sherman Way, roughly a mile away from Valley Presbyterian's campus at the corner of Vanowen Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard, the strain became even more evident. While Greene's hospital inherited thousands of patients, it also took on their financial burden at the same time.

"This is very tough for an independent, community-owned hospital in this environment, but that's the thing he loves to do," said David Fleming, both the hospital's chairman of the board and a significant contributor to its funding. "Al brings more to the table for us. What can I say, other than that the CEO of Cedars-Sinai told me we couldn't do better than Al Greene. He's perfect for what we need right now."

This is not an entirely new situation for Greene, who faced similar challenges in his tenure at Hollywood Presbyterian. During his five years at the medical center, which has no affiliation with Valley Presbyterian, he's credited with shepherding the hospital through labor troubles, layoffs and a change in ownership.

His reputation as a cost-cutter, however, ran him afoul of the state's powerful nurses union during his previous stint heading Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley and serving as CEO of Sutter Health's East Bay region. Chuck Idelson, a spokesman for the California Nurses Association, said Greene had shifted responsibility away from nurses, driving them out of the state and exacerbating the state's labor shortage.

"He was a very controversial figure up here," Idelson said. "He was CEO at a time Alta Bates was replacing registered nurses with unlicensed medical staff ... A lot of RNs got laid off and got fed up with the situation here."

The union went on to sue Alta Bates and won some concessions after Greene left. He also tangled with the Service Employees International Union, which represented staffers at Hollywood Presbyterian, in his most recent position. Nurses and staffers at Valley Presbyterian have no union representation.

Though Greene has been on the job less than a month, he jokes that he's already logged six weeks worth of work, something he'll find plenty more of in coming months.

"It's not like he needs the money or anything, it's just what he feels is the right thing to do," said Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California. "This is what he lives for. It's a real blessing for that hospital and a real blessing for that community."

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Albert Greene, standing in front of the facility's newest building, has taken over as president and CEO of Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys.

(2) Albert Greene, new president and CEO of Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, stands in a patient room while he talks about finding ways to keep the hospital solvent.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer