Lea este artículo en español aquí.
Fifteen days after voters approved a measure allowing the San Benito Health Care District Board of Directors to move forward with plans to sell Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, the board renewed Mary Casillas’ contract as the hospital’s CEO. In a 4-1 vote, at its Nov. 21 meeting, the directors appointed Casillas to a three-year term and raised her salary.
According to the meeting’s agenda packet, “the agreement provides for an annual base salary of $463,500, reflecting the district-wide 3% cost of living adjustments granted to other employees.”
Casillas’ renewal comes as Measure X—the initiative which sought voter approval for a potential sale of the hospital—passed, giving the board permission to proceed with an agreement to lease, and potentially sell, the hospital to the Michigan-based Insight Healthcare Group.
The potential change of ownership is in the background of Casillas’ new agreement. If the board terminates her after the contract becomes effective, she would be entitled to a severance payment of up to a year’s salary. This severance would also be paid if Casillas resigns following a lease-sale to Insight.
“In the event that there is a change of control of district resulting in ownership or control of percent (50%) or more of district, employee may elect to voluntarily resign from their employment with district within six months from the effective change date of the change of control and be entitled to the severance payment,” the agreement says.
The board, however, didn’t yet approve an incentive compensation plan that was recommended by Drew Tartala, the hospital’s human resources director. When Casillas was appointed as the hospital’s CEO on Jan. 25, 2024, her agreement contemplated an additional 10% incentive that was never discussed. Because of this, Tartala told the board that this incentive should be approved in the new three-year term agreement.
If it’s approved, the compensation plan would be available a year after the start date of the agreement, and would be subjected to “the achievement of specified performance objectives,” according to the letter Tartala wrote to the health care district board.
The directors postponed this decision until their next meeting, on Dec. 19, when the board will include two new members elected on Nov. 5. Victoria Angelo will take Jeri Hernandez’s seat as the Zone 1 board member and Nick Gabriel, who ran unopposed, takes over in Zone 5. While Angelo has expressed her support for selling Hazel Hawkins to Insight, Gabriel has openly spoken against it.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.
