Maverick County Hospital District Board Changes CEO Search Committee Recommendation

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

The Maverick County Hospital District Board of Directors held a special Board meeting on Monday, March 17, 2014, at 5:30 P.M. at the District’s Second Floor Conference Room at 3406 Bob Rodgers Drive in Eagle Pass, Texas, to discuss and take possible action regarding Chief Executive Officer Recruitment.

Board Chairman Juan Manuel “Chuco” Farias earlier in February 2014 appointed Board Secretary-Treasurer and United Medical Centers Clinic Manager Humberto Duran and Board member Ricardo Calderon to serve on the CEO Search Committee to review and evaluate the candidates’ resumes and recommend five or more finalists to be interviewed by the full Board of Directors.

Duran and Calderon held their first CEO Search Committee meeting on February 28th determining that the MCHD did not have its own written policies and procedures for evaluating and selecting a Chief Executive Officer and recommended to request outgoing CEO Elcira Bares to contact the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) for their guidelines and criteria in selecting a CEO. Bares contacted these organizations and provided the CEO Search Committee with an MGMA Evaluation Form of Resumes with specific criteria factors.

At its next CEO Search Committee meeting held on March 11th, Duran was unable to attend but requested Board member Joaquin L. Rodriguez to attend on his behalf together with Board member Calderon. Rodriguez and Calderon held another CEO Search Committee meeting on March 13th wherein Rodriguez raised concerns that the whole MCHD Board of Directors needed to participate in the evaluation of the candidates’ resumes, which Calderon concurred.

At the March 17th special Board meeting, the MCHD Board majority voted to use the CEO Job Description and the advertisement for the CEO Job Opening as the evaluation criteria for the over 70 resumes received in response to the Job Opening announcement instead of the CEO Search Committee’s previous recommendation of ACHE and MGMA guidelines and criteria as provided by CEO Bares. Board Secretary-Treasurer Humberto Duran made the motion to use the CEO Job Description and Advertisement as the evaluation criteria of the candidates’ resumes and Board Chairman Farias seconded the motion. Duran mentioned using the MGMA evaluation form and criteria, too, but in the end withdrew it.

Board member Calderon recommended using both the MGMA Evaluation Form and criteria and the CEO Job Description in evaluating the candidates resumes to determine the finalists to be interviewed.

After discussion, Chairman Farias, Secretary-Treasurer Duran, and Board member Rodriguez voted in favor while Board member Calderon opposed. Board Vice-President and Maverick County Treasurer Rito J. Valdez, III was absent at the March 17th special Board meeting.

The MCHD Board will now review the candidates’ resumes using the CEO Job Description and Advertisement and meet in the future to determine the finalists to be invited for interviews.