Glendale Adventist Medical Center

A hospital made infamous by a fired worker who claimed to be an "Angel of Death" scored 95 out of 100 in a recent independent review of, among other things, patient care, a spokeswoman announced Thursday. Glendale Adventist Medical Center was given the rating following "an extensive, four-day review" by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, which conducts surveys at the request of hospitals nationwide, said spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez.

A second hospital in Los Angeles County has discovered that patients were receiving overdoses of radiation from CT scans used to diagnose strokes. Ten patients at Glendale Adventist Medical Center this year accidentally got three to four times the normal radiation dose, hospital officials said Friday. In August, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found that after being reprogrammed, a General Electric scanner began delivering eight times the normal dose to patients receiving the same procedure, known as a CT brain perfusion scan.

American Red Cross Tissue Services, Western Region, has honored Glendale Adventist Medical Center for its commitment to tissue donation and transplantation. The Red Cross said that hospital personnel have worked with families of potential donors, showing sensitivity while providing the option of donation.

Treatment centers Certified stroke centers for Los Angeles County patients: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Glendale Adventist Medical Center Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Northridge Hospital Medical Center Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (Whittier) Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center -- San Pedro Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center (Burbank) Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Torrance Memorial Medical Center Los Alamitos Medical Center (Orange County)

* Linda J. McCray, vice president for finance at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, has been appointed the senior vice president for finance for the newly formed Adventist Health System/West-Southern California Healthcare Network. * David Watkins of Glendale was recently named director of marketing for Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park.

Lloyd Stanton Greenlea, former chief of staff at Glendale Adventist Medical Center who practiced medicine in Montrose for 44 years, has died at his La Canada-Flintridge home. He was 80. Greenlea died Jan. 30 of cancer, said his son-in-law, Lloyd Baumer. Born in Los Angeles, Greenlea graduated from the University of Loma Linda Medical School in 1934. A general practitioner, he opened an office in Montrose in 1935 and served as chief of staff at Glendale Adventist Medical Center from 1956 to 1979.

Glendale Adventist Medical Center Foundation has received $70,000 in grants toward the purchase of a new Spiral CT scanner for the hospital. The $1.5-million scanner, which enables doctors to make a quick diagnosis of emergency room and critical-care patients, is expected to be installed this year. John Stauffer Charitable Trust made a $50,000 grant and Forest Lawn Foundation contributed $20,000. Additional funds, however, are still needed.

The state Respiratory Care Board on Monday will revoke the license of a therapist who failed to report her suspicions about co-worker Efren Saldivar, who in March pleaded guilty to killing six patients at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, authorities said. Ursula Anderson, 34, told authorities that she provided Saldivar with a paralyzing drug and was aware he was injecting it into patients, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs. Anderson's license has been suspended since June.

Treatment centers Certified stroke centers for Los Angeles County patients: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Glendale Adventist Medical Center Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Northridge Hospital Medical Center Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (Whittier) Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center -- San Pedro Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center (Burbank) Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Torrance Memorial Medical Center Los Alamitos Medical Center (Orange County)

Two civil lawsuits for wrongful death against alleged "Angel of Death" respiratory therapist Efren Saldivar have been dropped, according to Saldivar's attorney, Terry Goldberg. Goldberg said in a news conference at his Canoga Park office that suits brought by the estates of two patients who died at Glendale Adventist Medical Center--Elio Heriberto and Armenoulal Tatulian--were dismissed on agreement by their attorneys.

Education "Living Well." Discussion of nutrition, sexuality, hormones and skin care; for women in their 50s and beyond. Tuesday. Hoag Conference Center-Newport Beach, 1 Hoag Drive, Newport Beach. 6:30 p.m. Free. Reservations. (949) 574-6970. "The Pain Is Mainly in Your Brain." A lecture on the psychological factors that cause variability in pain sensation. Tuesday. UCLA, Neuropsychiatric Institute Auditorium, Los Angeles. 11 a.m.-noon. Free; parking $7. (310) 825-5300. "Diet and Diabetes."

The state Respiratory Care Board on Monday will revoke the license of a therapist who failed to report her suspicions about co-worker Efren Saldivar, who in March pleaded guilty to killing six patients at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, authorities said. Ursula Anderson, 34, told authorities that she provided Saldivar with a paralyzing drug and was aware he was injecting it into patients, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs. Anderson's license has been suspended since June.

A Glendale hospital security guard is in jail for allegedly groping two female patients and inappropriately touching another, authorities said Wednesday. Fernando Rivas, 40, was arrested early Sunday after Glendale Adventist Medical Center staff contacted police about a patient complaint, Glendale Police Sgt. Kirk Palmer said.

The state Respiratory Care Board began legal proceedings Friday to suspend the license of the graveyard shift respiratory therapist who often worked beside convicted "Angel of Death" killer Efren Saldivar.

A lieutenant told John McKillop, "Chief wants to see us." McKillop was the sergeant of robbery-homicide. He hated "friend of chief" cases. They never did you any good. There were three visitors in Chief Russell Siverling's office, led by a man nervously rubbing his head. The visitors were executives from Glendale Adventist Medical Center. The nervous one, Dave Nelson, had taken a call two weeks earlier from a man who identified himself only as "Grant."

Salbi Asatryan was found dead in her bed. It was 4:26 a.m. An Armenian immigrant, Asatryan, 75, had been rushed to Glendale Adventist Medical Center three days earlier, on Dec. 27, 1996. She was in acute respiratory failure and needed a nasal ventilator to help her breathe. They put her in Critical Care, bed nine. To Bob Baker, she was "just a little old lady . . . a little barrel-chested thing, and sweet." He was one of the respiratory therapists who treated her.

Ralph E. Duewer, a retired Glendale bank manager, died Thursday of cancer at his home in La Canada, said his stepdaughter, Christie Alexander. He was 75. Born Sept. 13, 1915, in Morgan County, Ill., Duewer graduated from Illinois College in 1937 and moved to California in 1940. He retired in 1977 as vice president and manager of the Glendale branch of Security Pacific National Bank. His career with the bank was interrupted twice when he left to serve in the U.S.

The description of the Glendale Child Care Consortium (April 6, Glendale Section) as Glendale's only employer-sponsored child-care program slighted a similar effort by one major company. Glendale Adventist Medical Center has sponsored a child-care center for employees since 1982. My husband and I are fortunate to have access to this excellent on-site program, and both of our children (now 2 and 5) have experienced the advantages of this center since they were 3 months old. Approximately 60 children are enrolled in the program, which has a waiting list of 50. I'm sure that the center has been instrumental in recruiting nurses and in retaining them--a big issue for health care providers today.

One day after former hospital worker Efren Saldivar pleaded guilty to killing six patients at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, the head of the state board that oversees respiratory therapists said its highest priority now is to pursue disciplinary cases against former co-workers who may have aided him, or who knew what he was doing but did not report it.