Admirers to Pay for Soviet Poet’s Heart Bypass : Health care: Friends of dissident writer say medical center tried to turn him away because he didn’t have enough insurance. The hospital denies it.

Admirers of renowned Soviet poet Bulat Okudzhava, hospitalized in Los Angeles after becoming seriously ill in the midst of a U.S. tour, have pledged thousands of dollars to cover the cost of his mounting medical bills, friends and family said Thursday.

“The outpouring has been simply overwhelming,” said Alexander Polovetz of Sherman Oaks, a friend of the 67-year-old dissident who underwent an urgently needed--and expensive--double coronary bypass operation at St. Vincent Medical Center on Wednesday. Okudzhava was in stable condition in the intensive care unit Thursday.

Hospital officials said donors pledged to cover the medical expenses after supporters made scores of phone calls all over the world Tuesday with the news that the poet, singer and novelist had taken ill and was unable to pay for treatment.

Okudzhava, who has suffered from a heart condition for several years, fell ill during a tour that included a sold-out concert before about 1,000 mostly Soviet emigres in Hollywood on May 18.

Polovetz, the publisher of Panorama, a Russian-language news weekly based in Los Angeles, said he and others made the phone calls Tuesday afternoon and evening, and that the fax machine in his home “never quit ringing” as well-wishers responded with messages of support throughout the night.

“It says something about the kind of emotions Okudzhava stirs in people that there should be such an outpouring,” he said.

Polovetz and other supporters contend that the hospital tried to turn Okudzhava away after learning that he had only a small amount of insurance--a $10,000 traveler’s policy.

Supporters insist that “international pressure,” accompanied by the frantic money-raising campaign, persuaded the hospital to arrange for the surgery.

But officials at St. Vincent deny they ever considered refusing the poet care, saying they routinely attempt to secure prepayment guarantees from foreign patients.

“I can say categorically there was never any question as to Mr. Okudzhava’s receiving care,” Michael Garko, the hospital’s vice president of finance, said Thursday. He attributed the fuss about financial arrangements to a misunderstanding.

But the poet’s supporters are not convinced. “I think once they realized they had a world-renowned personality on their hands and not a homeless person, they decided they didn’t want the bad publicity,” said one, Si Frumkin.

“There was no question that the operation was urgently needed,” said Dr. Yuri Busi, a cardiologist. “It was more or less a textbook case.”

Busi praised the hospital’s handling of the matter and said that family and friends of his patient “may have let emotions interfere” with their perception of the hospital’s attempts to secure payment.

“There are many hospitals that would not have been as generous, regardless of whether a famous personality was involved, and it is unfortunate that St. Vincent’s motives should even be questioned,” the doctor said.

St. Vincent officials said Thursday that, barring complications, Okudzhava’s medical bills are not likely to exceed $50,000.

Polovetz said he was told Tuesday that the hospital would need a $15,000 cash deposit by the end of the day. When he expressed concern that it might be impossible to raise that much money on such short notice, a hospital official suggested that Okudzhava be transferred to County-USC Medical Center, where charity care is available, he said.

After consulting with the poet’s wife, Olga, and son Bulat, who are traveling with Okudzhava, “we made the decision that we did not want him to be sent to County-USC.”

Polovetz said that Garko told him Wednesday morning that the hospital had received numerous inquiries about the poet, and that several groups had pledged to pay the medical expenses. Garko insisted that the surgery was scheduled “before the first dollar was committed.”

“We’ve done hundreds of charity operations involving international patients over the years,” he said. “Naturally, in a case such as this, we have an interest in being paid, but there was never, ever a question that he was not going to receive care.”