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Published on 01/19/1998 All articles from this issue

El Camino Hospital chief Richard Warren wins contract extention

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By Carol Tiegs / Town Crier Staff Writer

The El Camino Hospital District Board of Directors announced Jan. 19 that it has extended the contract of Richard Warren, the hospital's chief executive officer and administrator, through 2000.

The announcement came immediately after a closed session in which the board considered Warren's employment contract. District board members expressed pleasure in making the announcement, calling the contract extension a sign of stability at the hospital.

Warren took over the administrative reins at El Camino after the district board regained operational control of the hospital in December 1992 following a two-year legal contest.

The board gave Warren a 10 percent increase in base salary, raising his base salary to $264,000.

According to Judy Twitchell, the hospital's communications manager, that salary was determined based on a survey of executive compensation at other California large and multi-hospital systems.

In further action on Jan. 19, both the district board and the hospital board adopted bylaw amendments in keeping the December board decisions to change the name 501(c)3 corporation that owns and operates the hospital from Camino Healthcare to El Camino Hospital.

Camino Healthcare was the name of the private, nonprofit corporation formed in 1992 to operate the hospital and related district entities, while the district board operated in a landlord capacity.

That relationship changed when the district board regained operational control in December 1996.

The corporation name change was made for clarity, Twitchell said. She said use of the Camino Healthcare name "has caused some confusion about the hospital's past and present."

"It was confusing to be using the name Camino Healthcare when we were referring to the operations of El Camino Hospital," said Warren following the December board meeting. "With a new legal name, this confusion should end."

Also meeting on Jan 19, the El Camino Hospital board approved a total project cost of $2 million for acquisition of new patient accounting and registration software.

The project budget includes costs of software, hardware, installation and consulting services, according to Marla Gularte, the hospital's chief financial officer.

Gularte said a multidisciplinary hospital team spent a year researching current technology and potential vendors making its recommendation to the board.

"It's exciting that we're getting something new," she said. "Our original system was designed for business as it was 30 years ago. We've had to do a lot of custom tweaks."

In addition to being state-of-the-art and user-friendly, the new system is year-2000 compatible.

Plans call for it to come online in spring 1999.