RADIO FAN WILL TALK FULL TIME\KNJO personality ends hospital career.

Byline: Victoria Giraud

How does an environmental health specialist become the morning man for radio station KNJO-FM (92.7)?

In Harvey Kern's case, he's already spent 18 years as the weekend personality, spinning discs on Sunday mornings and updating listeners on local news, the community calendar and the pet report.

And when he retired this month as director of public affairs for the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, he finally got his shot at becoming a drive-time man, sharing his patter and platters from 6 to 9 weekday mornings on the Thousand Oaks-based station serving the Conejo and Simi valley areas.

"It became a great part of my life," Kern said of his long years of part-time radio work. "KNJO has been my avocation."

The tall - 6 feet 5 inches - and articulate Kern completed 32 years in the public health field with L.A. County on March 15. His work included everything from managing a rodent control office in Canoga Park to giving 2,000 injections for the swine flu back in 1976. He closed out his long career in public affairs.

"The environment of a medical center is exciting; it's like no other place," Kern said.

Disasters of all kinds seemed to rule at the County/USC center the past few years, and Kern was in the midst of them all, keeping the public informed.

When three doctors were shot and hostages taken in the emergency room in 1993, "That was the worst day of my professional life," Kern said. But he happily added that all the doctors recovered nicely.

Then came the Northridge Earthquake in January 1994. The medical center was prepared with their own disaster plan, Kern said, but the quake and aftershocks demolished several buildings. At one point emergency care was conducted in the parking lot.

Most recently the medical center has suffered from funding cutbacks.

"We lost 1,700 employees - laid off, demoted or transferred. But in time of crisis, we're still here. We're resilient," Kern said proudly.

But all was not serious business in Kern's years with the medical center, with some of his radio personality filtering through. He's been a popular emcee at retirement events - he'll be paid back with a retirement roast in his honor - and has played Santa Claus for patients at Christmas and the Easter Bunny at Easter.

Yet radio has been a passion with Kern since his UCLA college days. Taking workshops in radio, he polished his skills and got his FCC license; he even took speech therapy to improve his voice.

That same year KNJO hired him for their Sunday morning show. "I was playing Montovani, Percy Faith and 101 Strings," Kern recalled.

His Sunday morning job grew into additional work covering events such as Conejo Valley Days from the field and working holiday relief for other personalities.

Kern fondly remembers a last interview with an ailing Donna Fargo, a pioneer Conejo Valley resident and former movie stuntwoman.

"She was the 'Spirit of Conejo Valley,"' Kern declared. "She was spunky. It was one of the saddest days when she died. She died on a Sunday, and I was on the air."

Although Kern says he will miss the patients, their families and the staff at the medical center, he is ready for new challenges.

"I've paid my dues. It's time to move on."

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PHOTO

Photo Harvey Kern is behind the microphone at radio station KNJO weekday mornings from 6 to 9. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News