Health exec who resigned gets payout after report

A top Broward Health executive who resigned after a harsh report on her handling of a marketing contract has received a six-figure payout in exchange for promising not to sue or disparage the public hospital system.

Doris Peek resigned July 20 as senior vice president of Broward Health, which runs five hospitals and various clinics, after a law firm hired by Broward Health accused her of improperly directing nearly $1.7 million to a company owned by a prominent Republican consultant. At the time of the report, Broward Health released a statement saying that it took the report “very seriously” and that “every individual at Broward Health is held accountable in order to uphold established legal and ethical standards.”

Peek’s severance agreement, released by Broward Health in response to a public records request from the Sun Sentinel, states that she will receive $214,008, most of which represents six months’ severance and the rest accrued leave.

Under the agreement, signed by Broward Health interim chief executive officer Beverly Capasso, Peek may cooperate with any government investigators or regulators looking into Broward Health, a taxpayer-supported system legally known as the North Broward Hospital District. But she promised to not take Broward Health to court and “not engage in any activity either oral or written which disparage or adversely affect Broward Health.”

Such non-disparagement clauses are common in severance agreements, although they have been criticized for