With cash flow tight at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital, its governing board voted Wednesday to rescind plans to pay a headhunting firm to find a permanent chief executive officer and instead set up a seven-member in-house search committee.
When CEO Gregory Calliste resigned last summer to take a position in New York, the board promoted Darice Plaskett to acting chief executive and planned to do a thorough international search for a permanent new CEO.
In the fall, the board voted to authorize Carmelo Rivera, then chairman of the board, to negotiate with the headhunting firm Tyler and Company, which was already in the territory handling a similar search for Schneider Regional Medical Center on St. Thomas. The board authorized spending up to $150,000 for the search.
During Wednesday’s meeting, board member Wallace Phaire said he was still concerned that an in-house search committee might not be as efficient or effective.
"I am trying to say the safest, most direct and honest way is to hire a search firm," Phaire said.
However, board member Kye Walker argued this was a good opportunity to save some cash.
"We just came out of a finance committee meeting and [Chief Financial Officer Rosalie] Javois painted a picture that is not too pretty," Walker said. "There is a lot of pressure to cut costs. This is one area we can save $150,000."
Voting yea were Walker, Imelda Dizon, Deepak Bansal and Chairman Valdemar Hill. Phaire voted nay. Rivera and Dr. Keri Biscoe abstained. Jacqueline Heyliger was absent.
In another cost-cutting move, Nursing Administrator Wendy O’Brien-O’Reilly reported the hospital had cut the number of contracted travelling nurses at the hospital by five, saving $165,000. Some of the expensive travelling nurses transitioned into regular full-time positions, saving the fees paid to the contracting agency.
Meanwhile, Javois reported the hospital has about $15 million in accounts payable right now. The hospital is falling behind on its V.I. Water and Power Authority bills as it is rotating payments among its vendors, she said.
On the bright side, Phaire, chairman of the board’s finance committee, said a new set of generators at the hospital were doing very well, generating power at about 16 cents per kilowatt hour, creating a big drop in total monthly WAPA expenses.
In other action, the board approved a two-year professional training and assistance contract with the Greeley Institute at a cost of $35,000 this year and $30,000 the second year. Several board members questioned spending the money for an ongoing contract at a time of financial strain, but Rivera, Bansal and Plaskett all argued the spending would pay off with a better-run, more efficient facility in the long run.
"In my experience, professional assistance always pays off," Bansal said. "To save money here might be penny wise and pound foolish."
Voting yea were Hill, Biscoe, Phaire, Rivera and Bansul. Walker voted nay, Dizon abstained and Heyliger was absent.