Chancellor Details Plan for Oversight : Inquiry: UCI leader seeks to reassure regents. In brief remarks she hints that disciplinary action or even firings might be in the offing.

UC Irvine Chancellor Laurel L. Wilkening, making her first public comments since a scandal exploded at the university’s renowned fertility clinic, on Friday outlined new oversight procedures that she said underline the university’s resolve to learn from the “bitter example” of its now-shuttered Center for Reproductive Health.

After Wilkening’s address, members of the UC Board of Regents said they were never informed of more than $900,000 in settlements paid to UCI whistle-blowers and ordered a review of the claim process.

“If this were a sex or race discrimination claim, for instance, over $75,000, it would go to us automatically, so why didn’t this?” said board member Ward Connerly, a Sacramento businessman. “It’s got to be a fault of the system, and it’s got to be changed.”

Wilkening, who is embroiled in the most serious crisis of her two-year tenure, spent lengthy private sessions with the regents Thursday and Friday to discuss the mounting allegations.

Appearing edgy, the chancellor made only a 10-minute public appearance before the regents, explaining that she had to catch a taxi for the airport almost immediately.

In her public comments to the board, Wilkening said her administration has pursued “deliberate and thorough” investigations into reports of wrongdoing at the center, including allegations of retaliation against whistle-blowers.

And, in an apparent hint that disciplinary action or even firings might be in the offing for some UCI employees, the chancellor assured the regents that she “will not hesitate to take appropriate personnel actions” after completing her review of the investigations. She did not elaborate.

“Getting to the truth has been, and continues to be, our main objective,” she said.

But after the meeting, Connerly said he and other board members had “a big problem” with UCI settling the whistle-blower complaints without involving the regents.

Regent Howard Leach said board members were “very concerned about the apparent mistreatment of the whistle-blowers and the amount of money” paid to them. During a two-hour briefing Thursday, “it was made clear we do want a review of that.”

Leach said the payment of those funds comes from the system’s risk management section and the department’s “authority to settle claims is presently being reviewed and will likely be revised.”

William T. Bagley, a regent from San Francisco, also stressed his disappointment that the whistle-blowers’ claims had never been brought to the regents.

“Our main concern is not to micromanage every incident that comes up, but in the same breath to have a process that allows us to know well ahead of time about things that are really out of line.”

During Friday’s meeting, Wilkening said new UCI measures to avoid future problems include:

* Directing department heads to “undertake more active oversight” of clinical practices by faculty.

* Requiring that physicians covered by UC’s malpractice insurance provide access to patient records upon request by university officials.

* Mandating that medical center faculty strictly follow policies involving billing for patient care.

* Establishing a committee to review relationships between medical faculty, patients and the university.

Walking quickly from the meeting, Wilkening declined to answer all but a few questions from reporters who trailed her outside, saying she could not comment on personnel matters or issues that touched on pending litigation. UCI recently sued the three doctors who operated the center--and have consistently denied any intentional misconduct.

Wilkening defended the pace of the university’s investigations, despite testimony this week by a former nurse at the center that he alerted his superiors of misappropriations of human eggs and embryos in 1992--more than two years before anyone launched an investigation.

“In my view . . . we have moved about as quickly--maybe faster--than any university I have known of that’s dealt with something of this magnitude,” she said. “My job is to try to address the situation and move forward, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Glenn Campbell, a regent from San Francisco, said the board was “flabbergasted” about the charges of retaliation against whistle-blowers and believed it had been “left out of the loop” on details until Thursday. Wilkening first informed members about the burgeoning scandal in May, Campbell said, eight months after a third whistle-blower complaint launched investigations into the clinic.

“Most of what the regents know is what they read in the papers,” Campbell said. “They claim they didn’t have proper proof earlier and it started before Laurel became chancellor and so she was sort of greeted by this. . . . I think the regents in general are willing to stand by her and see how well she does.”

Sen. Quentin L. Kopp (I-San Francisco) said Friday that he favors introducing a rule that any settlement of a claim by a whistle-blower must be approved by the regents.