County Names Hospital Administrator

Edward L. Martinez, a career administrator for Los Angeles County health and community services, has been appointed to the top post at General Hospital, the largest of the county’s public hospitals and part of the County-USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights.

Martinez, 47, replaces Richard Cordova, who left this month to become chief executive officer at San Francisco General Hospital. From 1987 to 1990, Martinez served under Cordova as associate administrator of General Hospital.

“We are delighted that Mr. Martinez has accepted this position and welcome his leadership and talents as we carry out the mission of the medical center,” Jerry L. Buckingham, County-USC’s executive director, said in making the announcement Monday.

Martinez, who was unavailable for comment, is to begin his new job in mid-August, said County-USC spokesman Harvey Kern. The position carries an annual salary of between $67,540 and $101,000, according to the county pay scale. Kern said the specific amount, based on employee performance, is confidential.

As administrator, Martinez will supervise General Hospital’s day-to-day operations as well as its relationship with USC’s medical school, whose faculty run the hospital’s medical departments and whose students and residents train there.

The 859-bed General Hospital is one of four hospitals on the County-USC site, with by far the largest annual budget: $230 million. The other facilities are Women’s Hospital, the Pediatric Pavilion and Psychiatric Hospital.

Since working for the county in 1971, Martinez has held the posts of personnel officer at County-USC, division chief in the county Department of Community and Senior Citizens Services, and assistant hospital administrator at Los Angeles County Harbor/UCLA Medical Center. Martinez has been chief operations officer at the county’s Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center since 1990.

A resident of Hacienda Heights, Martinez holds a master’s degree in public administration from Cal State Los Angeles. He was a management fellow with the National Assn. of Public Hospitals in 1989, and is past president of the Los Angeles County Hispanic Managers Assn.