King/Drew CEO Jumps to Cedars-Sinai

Conor Dougherty

After a long career with the County of Los Angeles, Randall Foster has decided to take on a new one.

Foster, who recently left his position as chief executive of Martin Luther King/Charles R. Drew Medical Center, has been appointed vice president of women’s, children’s, mental health and rehabilitation services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

He is accountable for areas including quality of service, community outreach and revenue growth. Though a step down in title, Foster said his new job is very similar to his old one.

“In terms of responsibility and accountability, there’s not much of a difference,” he said, adding that he’s responsible for double the number of patients at Cedars than he was at Martin Luther King/Charles R. Drew.

Since starting a month ago, Foster said he’s been learning about the different programs at Cedars. “In L.A. County you’re dealing with a network of hospitals governed by the Board of Supervisors,” he said. “At Cedars you’re dealing with a single agency the decision points are on campus.”

Foster said he sees Cedars’ closer knit structure as an advantage. “I suspect, as with most agencies, the easier it is to facilitate change the more effective you are,” he said.

First on his list is expanding the medical center’s market share through reaching out to organized health groups. “We have incredible service lines,” he said. “(Many) of those services are needed in the community we need to figure out a way to provide them.”

As a health-care administrator, Foster said it’s important to balance business with ethics. “Medicine, in and of itself, is not a pure science,” he said. “It requires making difficult decisions and those decisions must be grounded in good business and ethical sense. My challenge is to strike a balance and at the same time garner the support of the governing board.”

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Cal State Northridge in 1976, Foster began working for what is now L.A. County/USC Medical Center, driving electric trams. Fourteen jobs later, he was chief executive of King/Drew Medical Center.

Conor Dougherty