HOSPITALS RUN TESTS OF Y2K READINESS.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

The emergency room at Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale was stuffed with teddy bears Thursday, as 22 of the fuzzy animals became human stand-ins to help the staff test for Y2K readiness.

The paperwork for each of the ``patients'' was successfully processed the old-fashioned way, without computers, said Belinda Bickley, the hospital's director of education.

More than 400 California hospitals rolled the calendar forward to Jan. 1 on Thursday and created pretend crises to test whether they are ready for the Year 2000 computer problem.

Valley hospitals such as Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and Valley Presbyterian in Van Nuys took part in the drill.

Three mock crises were used to see how hospitals throughout the state might function if the Year 2000 computer bug causes power and phone outages or internal computers or medical equipment crashes.

During the Verdugo Hospital drill, hospital workers discovered some of the flashlights they needed didn't work and some boxes weren't where they were supposed to be, but overall the drill was a success, Bickley said.

``We have some things we need to work on, but everyone responded the way they were supposed to, and I think the exercise went pretty well,'' she said.

The Y2K problem is caused by the inability of some computer systems and chips to recognize 2000 as a valid year.

The drill results, which won't be fully compiled for several weeks, will help ``make sure that any loose ends that are not tied up are taken care of before the turn of the century,'' said Terry Sherb of the California Healthcare Association, which represents the state's hospitals.

At Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center, the disaster drill started at midnight when power was cut and the hospital relied on emergency generators to run the equipment, said Steven Fellows, chief operating officer.

Later, the hospital practiced working without internal phone systems and steam sterilizers, and then prepared the emergency room for 50-100 incoming patients, he said.

``We're ready. We've been preparing for Y2K for two years, and I think the drill Thursday showed when everything rolls over to 2000, we'll be prepared,'' he said.

The drill was designed not to disrupt routine emergency medical services or other hospital business.