Friends, Relatives Express Shock at Kidnaping in Beirut of County Man

David P. Jacobsen, the American hospital director kidnaped Tuesday in Beirut, was described by friends and relatives in Southern California as a hard-working administrator who cares very deeply for his employees and his patients.

Jacobsen, 54, of Huntington Beach, was seized by six gunmen as he walked from his residence in Beirut to the nearby American University Hospital, where he has been director since last December.

Friends and relatives expressed shock and sadness at news of the abduction. An adult son appeared shaken and distraught as he waited in his Huntington Beach apartment for any new information.

Former associates of Jacobsen at Alhambra Community Hospital recalled fondly the hospital administrator they dubbed “Mr. Wonderful.”

“He (Jacobsen) is such a caring person,” said Susan Vejar, an administrative secretary at Alhambra, where Jacobsen was administrator for eight years. “We’re all in shock.”

Another former co-worker, Doreen Barrett, a registered nurse at the hospital, added: “We’re just walking around in circles, very distraught. I can’t get my work done.”

Eric Jacobsen of Huntington Beach, son of the kidnap victim, said, “I prefer not to make any comment.” He referred further inquiries to American University officials based in New York.

Robert Berry, the university’s New York-based development manager, said the university, a private institution founded in Beirut in 1866, has attempted to get word out “to various factions” that may have been responsible for the kidnaping that Jacobsen’s work “was humanitarian, providing care at the hospital to a heavy load of casualties (from the Lebanese civil war).”

However, Berry said, there has been no response.

Graduate of UCLA

Jacobsen has spent most of his educational and professional career in Southern California, according to Berry.

“He got his bachelor of arts in psychology from University of California at Los Angeles in the mid-1950s and also did some graduate work at UCLA,” Berry said. “His early career and internship was in the Los Angeles County hospital system.”

Jacobsen completed work on his master’s degree at the University of Arizona. He became administrator of Alhambra Community Hospital in 1973 and held that position until resigning in 1981 for overseas work.

Working for National Medical Enterprises Inc. of West Los Angeles, Jacobsen was sent to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April, 1982, as administrator of a military hospital that National Medical manages for the Saudi government. Jacobsen worked there until October, 1983. He joined American University of Beirut a year later.

‘Very Hard-Working’

Jacobsen, who is divorced, has two sons and a daughter in the United States, according to former associates.

“He always made his home in Huntington Beach while he was working here at Alhambra Community Hospital,” Vejar recalled. “He was a very hard-working man, and he really cared about his employees and the patients.

“He’d go visit the patients in their rooms, and if a hospital employee ever needed help, he’d never hesitate to offer assistance, even if came from his own pocket.”

Both Vejar and Barrett said that Jacobsen has a robust sense of humor, with a fondness for “wild,” but never cruel, practical jokes. Vejar described him as being about six feet tall, with “sandy blond hair.”

Barrett, who worked with Jacobsen for seven years, recalled that “he was such a good administrator that we called him ‘Mr. Wonderful.’ He knew almost every person in this hospital by their first name.”

Barrett said the hospital’s staff of the Alhambra hospital and other friends of Jacobsen’s “are taking a positive attitude and thinking positive that everything will come out fine.”

Added Vejar: “We’re all praying that he’s let go, and real soon.”