Maverick County Hospital District’s CEO Recruitment Delayed Again

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

The Maverick County Hospital District Board of Directors held a regular meeting on Wednesday, March 26, 2014, at 12 Noon at the District’s Second Floor Administration Conference Room, located at 3406 Bob Rogers Drive, in Eagle Pass, Texas, approving to delay the District’s CEO Recruitment until another special meeting scheduled for Monday, April 7, 2014.

Former MCHD Chief Executive Officer Elcira Bares advised the District’s Board of Directors in December 2013 of her intentions to retire effective March 31, 2014. The MCHD Board approved to advertise its CEO job opening in local and out-of-town publications and national associations with an application deadline of March 7, 2014. On February 11, 2014, MCHD Chairman Juan Manuel Farias appointed Board Secretary-Treasurer and United Medical Centers Clinic Manager Humberto Duran and Board member Ricardo Calderon to the CEO Recruitment Committee.

Duran and Calderon held their first meeting on February 28th establishing CEO Recruitment Committee meetings to review the candidates that applied for the position on March 11th, March 13th, and March 18th to arrive with a short list of finalists to be interviewed by the Board at its March 26th regular meeting. Duran and Calderon also established that the candidates would be evaluated according to CEO evaluation criteria and forms available from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA).

At a special Board meeting held on March 6, 2014, the MCHD Board majority of Chairman Farias, Vice-President and Maverick County Treasurer Rito J. Valdez, III, Secretary-Treasurer Humberto Duran, and Board member Joaquin L. Rodriguez approved to delegate the Board’s authority to former CEO Elcira Bares to meet and offer an Interim CEO position to MCHD employee and Ryan White HIV Program Director William Worrell while Board member Ricardo Calderon opposed stating the Board should wait until after the March 7th application deadline and the Board should not delegate its policy-making authority to administration.

At the scheduled March 11th CEO Recruitment Committee meeting, Duran failed to show up due to a work scheduling conflict and requested Board member Joaquin L. Rodriguez to substitute him on the committee. At the March 11th CEO Recruitment Committee, Rodriguez and Calderon began reviewing the 79 candidates and agreed to meet again at the scheduled March 13th meeting to continue reviewing the candidates.

At the March 13th CEO Recruitment Committee meeting, Board member Joaquin L. Rodriguez raised a concern that the CEO recruitment and selection process was very important and that the whole Board of Directors should participate in the review of the 79 candidates, which Calderon joined. Rodriguez and Calderon requested former CEO Bares to advise Board Chairman Farias of the CEO Recruitment Committee’s recommendation.

Chairman Farias scheduled a special Board meeting on March 17, 2014 to discuss and take possible action regarding the CEO Recruitment process. The Board decided each member would review the 79 candidates and make recommendations which candidates to invite for interviewing at their regular Board meeting on March 26, 2014. Also at this meeting, the Board majority approved to use the MCHD CEO job description and advertisement as the evaluation criteria for the 79 candidates instead of the CEO Recruitment Committee’s previous recommendation to use ACHE and MGMA criteria and forms, which Calderon opposed the switch of criteria.

At the March 26th regular Board meeting, Board members Rodriguez, Duran, and Farias agreed to continue with the evaluation of the 79 candidates and schedule a special Board meeting on Monday, April 7, 2014, while Board member Calderon requested the Board that they come up with a short list of candidates to be interviewed but Board member Rodriguez opposed Calderon’s suggestion. During discussion, Chairman Farias denied Board member Calderon the opportunity to speak on the pending motion before the Board and called the motion for a vote. Without a timeline on the reviewing and finalization of candidates to be interviewed, Calderon opposed to meet on April 7th without a specific Board timeline on the CEO Recruitment and interview process. Board Vice-President and Maverick County Treasurer Rito J. Valdez, III, was absent at this meeting.

Once again, the MCHD Board delayed the CEO Recruitment and selection process.