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Because its CEO met most of her performance goals set last year, The San Benito Health Care District Board of Directors may update the incentive package for Mary Casillas, who for 2025 qualified for a 8% bonus in November.
On Feb. 26, the directors considered a package that included higher thresholds on the four criteria used to measure Casillas’ performance, but decided to table the item to March to allow the two absent directors, Victoria Angelo and Nick Gabriel, to provide input.
District Counsel Heidi Quinn said that if the board rejects the incentive packet, the committee will need to negotiate new terms with Casillas.
Director Bill Johnson, who with Angelo was part of the committee which negotiated the terms with Casillas, said he felt that the goals should be raised because they were met last year.
“[They are] attainable and measurable,” he said of the current goal thresholds.
| 2025 | 2026 | Bonus incentive | |
| Earnings % | 6% | 8% | 1% |
| 7% | 10% | 2% | |
| 7.5% | 12% | 1% | |
| Patient satisfaction rate (12 months) | 63% | 64% | 1% |
| 65% | 65% | 2% | |
| 68% | 66% | 3% | |
| Recruitment | 1 new physician | N/A | 1% |
| 2 new physicians | 4 | 2% | |
| Skilled nursing facility ceneus (12 months) | 85% average census (12 months) | 87% average census | 1% |
| 87% average census | 88% average census | 2% |
The criteria in the incentive plan includes increases in the hospital’s net income, doctor recruitment, patient satisfaction and average daily census at its skilled nursing facilities. The package makes Casillas eligible for up to a 10% bonus based on her salary of $477,000.
Public member Rob Bernosky asked the board to consider a provision allowing the hospital to recall the bonus if an audit reveals a threshold was not met, but the directors did not discuss this.
While Johnson and Josie Sanchez said they supported the package, Director Devon Pack said he was 75% in favor of it, but raised concerns over thresholds which Casillas already qualifies for, if trends remain the same.
“I hate to vote down on the small details, but the small details do matter,” he said.
Pack also asked the board to consider coming up with a better metric than the patient average census to measure growth in the skilled nursing facilities. He also suggested creating a new metric to measure “leakage” in hospital services, referring to patients who go out of the county for services instead of using Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, which is governed by the district.
“A fundamental issue that our hospital has been facing in terms of solvency is the ongoing issue of leakage,” Pack said.
Vice President of Information and Strategic Services Suzy Mays said there is no way of measuring how many residents go out of the county for medical services because the hospital is not informed when those situations occur. She said people are referred for various reasons including patient preference, insurance-guided, and availability of services.
“It’s a pretty big variable that we don’t always have direct influence over,” she said.
Regarding the skilled nursing facilities, Vice President of Clinic Ambulatory and Physician Services Amy Breen-Lema said the hospital can serve 100 patients but that reaching that threshold required hiring additional staff including nurses, case managers and dietary staff.
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