St. Bernard Parish Council Chairman George Cavignac last week resigned from his position as vice-chairman of the St. Bernard Parish Hospital's board. He said the Parish Council will appoint a new board member at some yet-determined date. Cavignac said on Thursday that the hospital board likely will send over some recommendations for his replacement and that the Parish Council...
St. Bernard Parish Council Chairman George Cavignac last week resigned from his position as vice-chairman of the St. Bernard Parish Hospital's board. He said the Parish Council will appoint a new board member at some yet-determined date.
George Cavignac Cavignac said on Thursday that the hospital board likely will send over some recommendations for his replacement and that the Parish Council then likely would go over those recommendations and vote on a new board member.
"One of the reasons I joined the board was to build the hospital, and now that is done," Cavignac said when asked why he stepped down from the post. "Also, with my job and council responsibilities, it was very time consuming."
It is the first time since May 2009 that the board has not had a council member among its ranks.
At that time, Cavignac and then-Councilman Wayne Landry - who currently serves as the board's chairman and the hospital's interim CEO - voted to appoint themselves members of the five-person board. Their appointment was contentious and followed by other council members' seeking a court injunction barring the two from being seated.
Some council members at that time questioned whether appointing a council person to the board might violate the parish's charter. They also said the openings had been kept as secret and that other potential candidates were not given an opportunity to come forward.
The public hospital opened last fall. But a month after its opening, the management group that had contracted to run the facility pulled out. The nascent hospital also has seen numerous administrative managers leave or resign.
The third-party management group that pulled out - the nonprofit Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System - had supplied the hospital's CEO, and, after its exit, Landry took on that top position.
As part of the hospital's arrangement with Goldman Sachs, which provided much of the hospital's financing, the hospital board signed an agreement that the facility would be run by a third-party manager.
But in March, St. Bernard Parish Hospital received the go-ahead from Goldman Sachs that it could choose its own CEO and would no longer be bound by the necessity of having an outside management body. Goldman Sachs, though, has required that the hospital undertake a nationwide search for a new CEO.
Cavignac said on Thursday that the hospital board already has seen presentations on various potential CEO candidates and that the board is in the process of setting up interviews with some prospects.