HEALTH OFFICIAL FINDS SUPPORT IN DRUG COURTS, JUSTICE SYSTEM

When he moved west from New York and Philadelphia seven years ago, Dr.
Robert Ross discovered in San Diego an opportunity he never expected: to
link arms in trust with law enforcement and criminal courts in behalf of
health and human services, which he directed.

Now he's leaving the city to become CEO of the $3.7 billion California
Endowment. He frequently opposed the status quo and challenged his bosses
but won wide-spectrum respect across the county. One of his most striking
roles was his part in establishing drug courts that have made San Diego a
model:

"I grew up in New York and spent 20 years in Philadelphia. I had a dim view
of law enforcement and policemen, the whole criminal justice system. I did
not think I'd ever partner with law enforcement because in my belief they
were not supportive in what I was taught. But in San Diego I met Jerry
Sanders (then police chief) and (Sheriff) Bill Kolender and some of the
great judges like James Milliken. We formed full partnerships. We tripled
the drug treatment capacity in this town. We implemented drug courts that
have moved further along than any city in the country. Using the crisis of
being in a courtroom, we tell addicts, 'We are going to put our hand out to
you, but you will have to take this stuff and join with us.' It works."

He praises after-school programs Mayor Golding has pushed for city schools;
the county also has 35 after-school programs.

"When we pursued funding for these programs it was Kolender, Sanders, and
District Attorney Paul) Pfingst standing at our side. I learned if when you
go to supervisors or state legislators and you have law enforcement
leaders, education and business leaders at your side, that's a tough
contingent to stare down. Such partnerships work in San Diego, especially
in schools."

He said he believes more merged efforts in San Diego health care must come
for the sake of patients and HMOs:

"There's Children's Hospital and UCSD, which have the longest courtship in
the history of mankind. Discussions are ongoing. You have a good pediatric
program at UCSD and a good children's hospital. But neither can achieve
greatness without the other. They need each other. It's the same with San
Diego's different cancer centers. There's much to cheer about in San Diego
but a lot of work to be done."

Ross learned about legislating public health from the failed national
reforms of the Clinton years.

"Clinton said 'I'm going to get every American health care,' " Ross
recalls, "and not even with a Democratic Congress could he make it happen.
The mistake was thinking 'if I get enough smart people in a room, they'll
solve it.' That's necessary but not sufficient.

"So the panel unveiled this plan and the HMOs and insurers were not in on
it. The American Medical Association and labor weren't, and neither was
business. He hadn't sold it in advance.

"We need to learn that in San Diego. If you want a good idea to have legs,
let people first understand it and embrace it. If they feel comfortable,
then making it happen, that's wonderful."

One children's mission he hasn't accomplished in San Diego, he says, is to
teach that the future of the community is in the hands of children: "We all
need them to be as smart and as healthy as possible. We have to start now.
We'll always have thorny challenges. Producing generations of young people
prepared to cope with and solve those problems is fundamental. The big task
in public health is remembering there is community strength in our
diversity. San Diego needs to really believe and remember that."

Neil Morgan's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. He can be
reached by e-mail at neil.morgan@uniontrib.com.