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The San Benito Health Care District Board of Directors is scheduled to consider appointing Mary Casillas as Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital chief executive officer during its Jan. 25 meeting.
Casillas was elected to the district’s board of directors in 2018 before resigning and accepting the chief operating officer position in 2022 then later that year serving as interim CEO after Steve Hannah was terminated.
Effective Nov. 1, 2023, the one-year contract will automatically renew each year, but will expire Nov. 1, 2027. If approved, Casillas would earn an annual salary of $450,000.
Directors Bill Johnson and Rick Shelton were also appointed to an Ad Hoc Committee by Board President Jeri Hernandez charged with researching compensation for the CEO role, considering Casillas’ qualifications, the staff report in the agenda packet said.
Johnson and Shelton compared “organizations and similarly-qualified individuals and determined whether a compensation adjustment was appropriate,” the report states.
According to the staff report, an annual review of Casillas was conducted on Nov. 14, 2023 behind closed doors by the board where it determined Casillas was “performing extremely well – especially given the unprecedented circumstances facing the district.”
Mark Robinson, Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital chief financial officer, told BenitoLink when Hannah was terminated that he began with a $350,000 salary and received a $10,000 raise the year before he was terminated. In 2023 BenitoLink analyzed Hazel Hawkins’ previous CEOs’ experience and wages.
If the board were to deny Casillas’ agreement approval, the district would need to hire a recruitment firm to search for a CEO, costing the district $1.3 million to $1.8 million, the report said. The search could take up to six months.
Additionally, the district estimates the salary for a new Interim CEO could range from $632,000 to $788,000.
According to the employee agreement, if Casillas is appointed CEO and later terminated, the district would be required to pay Casillas severance pay of her current annual salary.
If there is a 50% change of control or ownership of the district, Casillas may voluntarily resign within six months of the change and receive severance pay of her annual salary, the report said. It adds that if Casillas is terminated after a change of control or ownership, she will still be entitled to the severance pay.
In Oct. 2022, the district terminated Hannah who then received $360,563 in severance pay.
The hospital applied for bankruptcy in 2023 and has approved two letters of intent, and has received another from San Benito County. A letter of intent serves as a commitment by both parties to work together with the goal of entering into an exclusive contract with the district.
The board will meet at 5 p.m. in the Support Services Building, 911 Sunset Dr. in Hollister. A zoom link is also available for the meeting.
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