Broward Health indictments may disrupt CEO search

For the board members of Broward Health, the timing couldn’t be worse.

They had planned to interview finalists for the job of chief executive officer on Jan. 22, hoping to finally install a permanent leader at the helm of an organization that has struggled to achieve stability.

Now on that day, however, board Chairman Rocky Rodriguez and four other current and former officials of the public hospital system are scheduled to be arraigned in Broward County Court on criminal charges of violating Florida’s public-meetings law.

“I’m a native of Broward County, I’ve been involved in politics for 50 years and I can tell you I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Jim Kane, a pollster and lobbyist who teaches political science at the University of Florida. “I’m not saying it didn’t happen somewhere in the past. But, quite frankly, I do not recall anything that even comes close to this.”

A grand jury indictment made public this week accuses Rodriguez, interim CEO Beverly Capasso, general counsel Lynn Barrett, board member Christopher Ure and former board member Linda Robison of conspiring to violate the state’s open-meetings law in the decision last year to fire interim CEO Pauline Grant.

Gov. Rick Scott, who appointed all the board members of the five-hospital system, has not made a decision on whether to suspend them as a result of the charges, spokeswoman Lauren Schenone said Wednesday.

Broward Health, legally known as the North Broward Hospital District, serves the northern two-thirds of Broward County and is partially

supported by property taxes.

The district did not respond to questions on how the indictments could affect the CEO search.

“We continue to focus on providing high quality patient care to our community and trust the legal team to work through the process,” Peter Nyamora, executive vice president for human resources, said in statement released by the district.

If the governor suspends the two indicted board members, it would leave the remaining three members one short of a quorum, the minimum number of members legally required to conduct business.

Former state Rep. Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed, who represented part of northern Broward County and had been a critic of Broward Health, said the governor needs to replace the indicted board members immediately.

“I think they need to follow through with removing them from their positions and replacing them with competent people who can be trusted to do the right thing,” she said.

The five are accused of evading the state’s open-meetings law, which requires members of public boards to meet in public and publish an agenda that sets out in advance what actions might be taken.

The indictment states that the four board members — two of whom no longer serve on the board — agreed to meet individually with lawyers who had investigated Grant over an alleged kickback scheme. It said General Counsel Barrett arranged the meetings, and that these amounted to an attempt to discuss official business outside the legally required scope of public meetings.

“The news of multiple indictments for appointed board members and legal counsel is very troubling,” said County Commissioner Tim Ryan, who had previously called the district’s treatment of Grant unfair. “If true, it paints a bad picture for all who serve in public capacities as elected officials or appointees to board. Florida takes very seriously its open records and open meetings laws.”

The defendants, either personally or through their lawyers, have all said they did nothing wrong in trying to fulfill their duties as effectively as possible and root out corruption in the district.

“Linda faithfully served the Broward Hospital District, working diligently to fulfill her fiduciary duties,” said Mark Rankin, attorney for Robison. “These charges are wholly unfounded and the prosecution misguided. Linda is innocent of any wrongdoing and looks forward to her day in court.”

Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, who represents northwest Broward County, said the institution should be held to the same standards of openness of any other public entity.

“The public in Florida demands open government, and if they’re going to take tax money and be a public entity, they have to live up to that requirement,” he said. “The people in the northern part of the county deserve high-quality health care. If they’re going to get it from the North Broward Hospital District, it needs to be in an open and transparent manner.”

Former Broward Health board member Maureen Canada, who had voted against firing Grant and was not charged, said she cooperated with the investigation and wasn’t surprised by the indictments.

“I am not aware of all the evidence heard by the grand jury, so I can’t comment specifically on the indictment, but I’m not at all surprised that the grand jury found enough evidence to bring an indictment against the five individuals,” she said. “Ultimately, the guilt or innocence of these Broward Health officials will be decided by our criminal justice system.”

But whatever wrongdoing is found or not found, she said it should not tar the reputations of the thousands of people at Broward Health who do the hard, daily work of caring for patients and running the system.

“The superior care offered by the talented physicians, nurses and the entire staff of Broward Health remains steadfast,” she said. “Their commitment and reputation should not be lost by the errors in judgment of an elite few. “