MEDICAL CENTER APOLOGIZES FOR DENIAL OF ANESTHESIA.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

Northridge Hospital Medical Center officials apologized Thursday to a patient who was denied epidural anesthesia during childbirth because she could not pay $400 cash, saying the 1997 incident was an isolated case.

``I want to sincerely express our sympathies and regrets regarding the incident to the patient we served here in 1997,'' said Roger Seaver, hospital president and CEO, during a news conference.

``This is entirely out of character with the services that we provide to the community, and we truly regret the incident,'' he said.

Medi-Cal patient Ozzie Chavez claims in a lawsuit that anesthesiologist Lori Berke refused to administer an epidural block last July, despite Chavez's offer to pay by check or credit card.

Anesthesiologists at the hospital thought Medi-Cal would not pay for the procedure, Seaver said. But epidurals are fully covered, Ken August, a spokesman for the California Department of Health Services, said Thursday.

Berke's attorney denied any wrongdoing by the anesthesiologist, who is on a leave of absence. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, state and federal officials are investigating whether any laws were violated.

Seaver was quick to distance the hospital from Berke and the hospital's anesthesiology group. He said the advance-payment policy, which has been rescinded, was implemented by the anesthesiologists in direct violation of hospital guidelines.

``The hospital has never had a request for payment in advance for any of our services,'' Seaver said. Though Berke is on leave, the hospital will continue contracting with the anesthesiology group.

In documents submitted by the hospital to the state Department of Health Services, the hospital's board of directors claims it was not aware that the administration had allowed the anesthesia group to deviate from the contract outlining services entered into in 1995.

As a result of Chavez's complaint, Seaver has ordered the anesthesia group to comply with a hospital directive saying that ``no patient shall be denied anesthesia on the basis of insurance coverage or ability to pay, nor will any request for advance payment be made of the patient.''

This directive was formally adopted as hospital policy June 26.

All of the anesthesiologists at the hospital also have been required to sign an agreement to comply with the hospital's policy of providing epidural anesthesia without regard to the patient's ability to pay, according to the documents.

In response to the state Department of Health's investigation, the hospital audited cases of 294 patient deliveries between August 1997 and June and found no deviations from the policy.

Though some anesthesiologists claim they require advanced payment because of the ambiguity over whether Medi-Cal would reimburse epidurals, Seaver said there was no ambiguity on the hospital's part. He also denied claims that nurses act as go-betweens between patients and physicians in order to determine epidural payments.

``In the area of obstetrics alone, this isolated incident should be put in total perspective,'' Seaver said.