Inquiry Targets L.A. County Hospitals’ Chief

Los Angeles County’s director of hospitals, Walter Gray, is under investigation for allegedly falsifying his resume by stating that he has undergraduate and graduate degrees, according to top county officials familiar with the investigation.

One of the Department of Health Services’ top four administrators, Gray has retained a lawyer to represent him in the ongoing investigation, but he could soon be forced out of the department where he has worked for more than 33 years, the sources said.

Gray, 50, has been out sick all week. He did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment, and a woman who answered the door at his Lake View Terrace home said Gray would not comment on the investigation. Efforts to reach his lawyer were unsuccessful.

In a recent Times interview, Gray downplayed the allegations that he had falsified his resume, saying they were greatly exaggerated and from an anonymous enemy.

“I didn’t view anything [in the allegations] as a major issue,” Gray said. “I don’t view it as substantive. If there are two things that are done well in this department, they are character assassination and good patient care.”

The sources said results of a confidential health department investigation show that Gray never attended the University of Nebraska, where they say he has maintained that he received an undergraduate degree in the 1960s.

And, these sources say, Gray never received a graduate degree later from USC, as he has allegedly claimed on resumes and job applications that he used to win raises and promotions over the years, and to apply for the job of health department director last year.

Officials at the University of Nebraska’s two main campuses--the undergraduate campus in Lincoln and the medical center in Omaha--said Wednesday that they had no record of a Walter Gray ever attending. A USC representative said a check of that school’s records found no Walter Gray.

Gray apparently also listed some extension college work, but investigators said those courses never led to a degree.

Three of the county’s elected supervisors confirmed Wednesday that they were aware of the allegations against Gray, which surfaced in an anonymous letter sent by “dedicated county health services employees.”

Supervisor Deane Dana confirmed that he was briefed on the investigation Tuesday and said he is “extremely troubled” by its findings. “If they are all true, obviously we can’t tolerate this, and he will be on his way out,” Dana said. “How could you possibly keep anybody like that?

“It shows the degree to which the health department is out of control, to allow something like that to happen.”

Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said she had read a confidential report on the investigation but deferred questions to new Health Director Mark Finucane.

“I am not at liberty to disclose [its findings] to anyone, not even my staff,” Burke said. “But I am very concerned about the charges. . . . I consider it very serious.”

Finucane, who took over the troubled health department in January, would not comment on the investigation, nor would lawyers for the county, who confirmed that they have met to discuss the issue. Depending on the case that has been built against him, Gray may have recourse through Civil Service, or could be fired outright or forced to resign, county sources said.

Mike Henry, the county’s personnel director, also declined to comment on the investigation. “It’s a personnel matter,” Henry said.

The investigation and its potential outcome are particularly serious because they come at a time when the department is in chaotic transition, with a continuing budget deficit, a new director, a staff that has been downsized by thousands and a network of hospitals and health centers with widespread problems.

As assistant health director in charge of hospitals, Gray has responsibility over the county’s six medical centers, including the nation’s largest public hospital, County-USC.

Gray, who joined the health department in 1963, rose through the ranks to become assistant administrator of Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in 1977 and was promoted to associate administrator in 1979. He later became administrator of the county’s High Desert and Harbor-UCLA medical centers, before getting his current post in 1994.

In the past year, Gray has at times suffered withering criticism from the Board of Supervisors about the poor quality of care at some hospitals and evidence that doctors are excessively moonlighting, abusing overtime and skimming insured patients into their private practices.

But the supervisors, like many health officials, said they were shocked by the allegations that Gray lacks a college degree. A large and outgoing man, Gray generally enjoyed a good reputation among county officials, particularly for his willingness to work around the clock to help the health department through its worst-ever budget crisis last summer.

The Jan. 18 letter that prompted the investigation said Gray’s “lack of college degrees” came to light when he filed for the assistant health director exam in 1993, which requires a graduate degree in business, health services administration or public health.

“He couldn’t produce a graduate degree or an undergraduate degree,” it was stated in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Times. “This individual has defrauded the county. . . . He has gained compensation and benefits by falsifying his records.”

Toby Staheli, a spokeswoman for the department, said she could not locate a resume for Gray or a job application for the health director position or for other jobs for which he has applied.