Broward Health board selects indicted interim CEO to lead system, forgoes finalists

Alyssa Rege -

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health's board of commissioners chose not to hire one of the four finalists previously selected for the CEO position. Instead, the board voted Wednesday to make Beverly Capasso, the system's interim president and CEO, the permanent head of the system, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Here are seven things to know about the situation.

1. Ms. Capasso was one of five Broward Health officials indicted in December for allegedly violating the state's open meetings law by holding private meetings to bring about the termination of the health system's former interim CEO, Pauline Grant.

2. All five of the system's board members participated in the vote. Four of the five board members voted in favor of the motion to appoint Ms. Capasso to the CEO position permanently, stating Ms. Capasso had successfully restored stability to the organization, and that none of the four finalists were right for the position. None of the board members mentioned the pending indictment against Ms. Capasso during the meeting, the report states.

3. Board member Nancy Gregoire made the motion to offer Ms. Capasso the position. Under the motion, Ms. Capasso will serve as the permanent CEO of the health system until Aug. 31, 2020, when a federal oversight agreement expires, according to the report.

4. Ms. Gregoire discussed the pending indictments during an interview after the board meeting, stating the indictment against Ms. Capasso "certainly ... bothers me. However, I really believe that the four candidates we had to review were not the best thing for Broward Health right now. I'd hate to make a mistake and make matters worse," the Sun Sentinel reports.

5. Broward Health Board Chairman Rocky Rodriguez provided the single dissenting vote, stating there was a public and explicit understanding Ms. Capasso was to serve as president and CEO solely in an interim capacity, the report states.

6. Ms. Capasso was not present at the board meeting, which was a special meeting called solely to discuss the CEO issue. However, the Sun Sentinel reports she was at the subsequent regular meeting, where the board asked her to permanently continue as president and CEO of the five-hospital system.

"I'm humbled and honored to accept the terms of the contract," Ms. Capasso said. "We have stabilized Broward Health. We will continue to stabilize Broward Health for our patients, our community and the 8,000 employees of Broward Health."

7. Broward Health has been run by a series of interim CEOs since its last permanent CEO, Nabil El Sanadi, MD, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in January 2016. Ms. Capasso has served as interim president and CEO of Broward Health since May 2017.

To read the full Sun Sentinel report, click here.

Editor's note: This article was updated Feb. 1 at 8:14 a.m. to include additional information.

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