Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Mismanagement, Low Morale Cited in Hospital Investigation : Health: Study, prompted by complaints from High Desert staff and public, urges that administrator be replaced.

An investigation of county-owned High Desert Hospital has uncovered evidence of mismanagement and low staff morale--and urges that the hospital’s top administrator be replaced, Los Angeles County officials said Wednesday.

The study--prompted by complaints from staff and the public--paints a picture of a hospital where managers fail to correct problems or properly discipline subordinates, which leads to poor morale and charges of favoritism. The audit substantiated 30 of the 62 charges that were investigated.

“It does not appear that the current management can effectively resolve and manage the many problems being faced by the hospital and restore employee confidence,” the report states. “Considering the negative impact this situation can have on the delivery of services, we strongly recommend a management rotation of the administrator and associate administrator.”

The report charges unnamed hospital managers with “questionable decisions, lack of timely action and poor judgment.”

Wednesday afternoon, hospital Administrator Roy Fleischman said he had not finished reviewing a copy of the 60-page report. He said he had not decided whether he would challenge the audit’s recommendation that he step aside.

“If, in fact, that is the case, I don’t know if I would challenge it,” Fleischman said. “But I would make a response and let my bosses make the decision.”

Fleischman, who ran the hospital between 1978 to 1989 and assumed the top post again in December, 1993, declined to comment on specific allegations, but said he would attempt by Monday to provide a written response to all criticisms in the report to Walter Gray, the county health department’s assistant director.

The investigation, conducted by the county’s Health Services Department, was started about a month ago after Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s office received complaints about mismanagement at the hospital, officials said.

“The investigation backed up the allegations that were being made,” Antonovich said Wednesday. “What surprised me was that the problems were not getting resolved.”

Antonovich said he will submit a motion to the County Board of Supervisors requiring the hospital to comply with each recommendation, and for the county’s health director to give the supervisors a weekly progress report on how the hospital is correcting the problems.

County health administrators were not available for comment Wednesday, a health department spokeswoman said.

Among the violations found by the audit:

* A physician attempted to keep employees accused of sexually harassing a patient.

* No action was taken to remove a physician charged with sexual battery from patient care duties.

* Job promotions were not properly posted.

* An employee was improperly involved in the employment of a relative.

* Mismanagement of patient medication by the nursing staff.

Last year, an inspection by Los Angeles County Radiation Management uncovered seven violations in the handling of radioactive materials at High Desert, but it also concluded that those errors did not threaten the health and safety of patients or employees.

However, the violations did trigger a flurry of complaints from employees, who alleged that poor management and low morale prevailed at the county facility.

High Desert Hospital is licensed for 170 beds but operates about 120, county officials said. The facility opened in 1961, originally to care for County Jail inmates suffering from tuberculosis. More recently, it has provided health care to indigent Antelope Valley residents unable to obtain treatment elsewhere.

Fleischman said any management problems that may exist at High Desert do not mean that people receiving treatment there are at risk. “The quality of patient care is excellent,” he insisted.

“I’m very concerned that the overall image of the hospital has suffered, relative to its status in the community,” he added. “That’s not fair. It’s a quality hospital that delivers good medical care to the community.”

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Fleischman said he does not want patients to stay away from the hospital because of reported bureaucratic problems. “If people are questioning my management, that’s acceptable,” he said. “This is a public facility and it should be open to scrutinizing. . . . I’m concerned about the impact on the hospital and the people who need its care.”

Pointing to the hospital’s inefficient design and small size, county officials are preparing to replace it with a more modern, 165-bed facility in west Lancaster. Late last year, the Board of Supervisors approved purchase of an 80-acre site for a new hospital.

Construction is tentatively set to begin late this year, with completion expected in mid-1999.