Broward Health picks six CEO candidates

Six candidates were selected Wednesday to be interviewed for the job of chief executive officer of Broward Health, as the public hospital system attempts to restore the stability shattered nearly two years ago by the suicide of its last permanent CEO.

It’s impossible to say anything about the candidates’ qualifications because Broward Health refused to release their resumes, even though board members of Broward Health received them in advance of the meeting and the Sun Sentinel had made a public records request at last month’s meeting to receive them as soon as they were given to the board.

Pam Hatfield, Broward Health’s senior executive secretary, who handles public records requests, said she had been told to send them to “outside counsel” to be reviewed before being released.

Broward Health, a publicly supported system that operates five hospitals, has been repeatedly accused of operating in a secretive manner. A Broward grand jury is currently taking testimony on an investigation into whether Broward Health has violated the state’s open-meetings law, an inquiry that began after the board voted to fire previous interim CEO Pauline Grant.

“Our office decided that that grand jury should focus on possible Sunshine Law violations and related matters that had come to our attention during our office’s preliminary investigation,” said Ron Ishoy, spokesman for the Broward State Attorney’s Office.

Lynn Barrett, Broward Health’s general counsel, said the law requires the resumes to be redacted for any information exempt from public disclosure before being released.

Broward Health board member Christopher Ure said he thought the media should be given the resumes.

“Do I feel like you should have it? Absolutely,” he said after the meeting. Although he did not want to part with his only copies, he said he would provide copies the next day. He allowed a reporter to photograph the list of names.

The six finalists are Steve Altmiller, Joseph Gilene, Barbara Martin, Robert Minkin, Jessie Tucker and Mike Young.

They will be invited for interviews to lead the system, legally known as the North Broward Hospital District.

Broward Health has been operating without a permanent CEO since the Jan. 23, 2016, suicide of Dr. Nabil El Sanadi, who shot himself on the ground floor of his oceanfront condo building. He did not leave a note.

Since then, there has been a series of interim CEOs, as Broward Health struggled with legal and financial issues, including state and federal investigations, the Broward grand jury and cuts in its bond ratings.

A flurry of new hires by interim CEO Beverly Capasso, however, has strengthened the system’s upper ranks.