UC Irvine Medical Center CEO resigns

Monday, November 10, 2008
UCI Medical Center chief resigns
Maureen Zehntner, who was promoted in March, announced she will step down, effective in March.
By COURTNEY PERKES AND MARLA JO FISHER
The Orange County Register
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ORANGE The head of UCI Medical Center, who was promoted in the wake of scandal, said Monday she will retire in March, the announcement coming at a time when the hospital continues to face problems.
Maureen Zehntner, a registered nurse who spent 13 years on the hospital's executive committee, was named acting chief executive officer in 2005. She was permanently appointed to the top job eight months ago. She replaced Dr. Ralph Cygan, who resigned after the hospital's liver transplant program closed because of mismanagement and poor survival rates.
In a memo to staff, Zehntner, 60, said she had "very mixed emotions," but that both her parents had recently died and another family member has a serious medical condition. She also wrote that her husband was eager for her to join him in retirement.
Zehntner's announcement to leave her $555,000 job comes as the medical center prepares to move patients into its new hospital early next year. The hospital also continues to face problems stemming from the recent disclosure that anesthesiologists were falsifying patient records to save time.
In August, Medicare threatened to pull the hospital's funding after health inspectors found anesthesiologists were filling out patient records in advance of their surgeries. In one case, inspectors found a completed operating-room record that showed the patient left the operating table that day at 10:30 a.m. However, it was 9:30 a.m. at the time and the patient was still in surgery.
The university said anesthesiologists had been ordered to stop.
Last week, Medicare officials said the hospital was still out of compliance after an October follow-up inspection of the hospital. Because the report isn't finished, it's unknown where problems were found. But Dr. David Bailey, vice chancellor for health affairs, said he expected anesthesiology to be in the clear.
The state Medical Board has also filed a disciplinary accusation against UCI anesthesiologist Dr. Peter Breen. The board alleges Breen falsely filled out a surgery form for a cataract patient in advance of surgery, falsely indicating that the patient was stable and comfortable.
Breen, who was a previous chairman of the anesthesiology department, said in a letter to the editor published in the Register last month: "There was no fraud, no malice, no monetary gain, no patient injury and no compromise of care associated with predocumentation."
Contact the writer: 714-796-3686 or cperkes@ocregister.com