Leaders approved for Luis and Schneider
Published: January 31, 2013
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ST. THOMAS - The territorial hospital board on Wednesday approved choices for the top spot at each of the territory's hospitals.
The territorial board - which has not met in more than a year - voted to move forward with negotiating a contract with a chief executive officer candidate to take the helm at Schneider Regional Medical Center and to ratify actions the Luis Hospital board took during the last week to put Dr. Kendall Griffith in the interim CEO spot at Luis Hospital.
The discussions about the Schneider Regional chief executive officer candidates were in executive session, and the board did not make public the name of the candidate who is in the top spot.
The territorial board authorized chairwoman Lynn Millin-Maduro to negotiate a contract and close the deal with the candidate, who was recommended by the Schneider Regional board.
Schneider has been involved in an executive search since CEO Alice Taylor left the post in December 2011. Chief operating officer Angela Rennalls-Atkinson has been interim CEO at Schneider since that time.
Before going into executive session, the territorial board voted to ratify the acceptance of Jeff Nelson's resignation as Luis Hospital CEO and to ratify the Luis Hospital board's decision to extend an offer to Griffith to be interim CEO at a pay rate of $250,000 annually.
Kye Walker, the chairwoman of the Luis Hospital board, said that Griffith was not at Wednesday's meeting because hospital officials are working hard to finish a plan of correction the hospital intends to submit today to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to address deficiencies federal regulators uncovered during previous inspections.
Nelson, who had been Luis CEO for two years, abruptly resigned the post Friday afternoon.
The Luis Hospital board last week had selected Griffith to be the hospital's chief operating officer, a position in which they wanted someone with a clinical background. They had planned to have the COO be in charge of all the hospital's patient-care areas and lead implementation of a settlement agreement with CMS.
However, Nelson resigned after the latest CMS survey wrapped up on Friday.
In an emergency meeting Saturday, the Luis Hospital board decided to forgo naming a chief operating officer and have Griffith, who is an interventional cardiologist, take the helm as interim CEO.
On Wednesday, Walker reported that the contract with Griffith - which has not yet been executed - would be for one year.
Walker said the Luis Hospital board has no immediate plans for a CEO search at this point, for a "variety of reasons," including the possibility of lawmakers restructuring the territory's hospital system.
She said Griffith was bringing in someone to handle his private practice, but that Griffith still would provide interventional cardiology services two afternoons a week.
After discussion, the territorial hospital board ratified the acceptance of Nelson's resignation and the offer to Griffith.
This was the first time the territorial board had met in more than a year, although it is required by law to meet quarterly.
Millin-Maduro said the board had not met more frequently because it had difficulty in getting a quorum.
- Contact Joy Blackburn at 714-9145 or email jblackburn@dailynews.vi.
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