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CHCC staff against politically appointed board
Many of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s personnel are against a bill that proposes to reinstate a board of trustees with authority over the s chief executive officer, which was supposed to be discussed during the Senate Health and Welfare committee yesterday.
The lack of quorum stopped the Senate committee from holding a public hearing on the bill, House Bill 19-186 HD1, which proposes to reinstate the CHCC board with politically appointed members with power to govern, manage, and control CHCC operations.
Many of the CHCC staff that openly opposes the bill were ready and eager to express their dissent at yesterday’s committee hearing, especially CHCC special assistant for Policy, Sustainability, and Development Kaitlyn Neises, but were unable to do so.
“The committee did not have a quorum, with only three members in attendance, and so couldn’t continue with having a meeting and did not hear our testimonies. This was very disappointing,” said Neises in an email.
Neises was even more disappointed to learn through Senate Health and Welfare Committee chair Sen. Teresita Santos (R-Rota) that the Senate would still press ahead with voting on the bill, whether or not a public hearing is held for it.
“Sen. Santos notified us that, even though there has never been a Senate committee meeting or public hearing on this bill, it is scheduled to be voted on at tomorrow’s Senate session at 1:30pm (Tuesday, Dec. 6). It seems the Senate wishes to vote on it without a committee meeting or report,” said Neises in the same email.
“This bill would seriously harm the CHCC and likely undo the progress made in the last few years if it is passed. Despite listing the deficiencies with the bill in numerous comment letters, the Legislature seems determined to the push the bill through,” she added.
CHCC has not had a board meeting for over a year. As of publication, the CHCC board acts as an advisory body as compared to the governing body proposed by the bill.
The Senate session in which the voting would be held in is today, at 1:30pm in the Senate chamber on Capital Hill.
