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‘CEO still calls the shots at the hospital’
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Posted on Mar 27 2012
Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. board chair Jack Torres said yesterday that all final decisions relating to the operation of the Commonwealth Health Center and the Rota and Tinian health centers are made by chief executive officer Juan N. Babauta, whom he described as the person who “calls all the shots at the corporation.”
Torres pointed out that despite the existence of the healthcare corporation board, the CEO has the full authority to decide on any matter because the board only serves as an advisory panel for the CEO.
“We’re functioning only as an adviser to the CEO, so whatever recommendations or actions we take [at the board level], the final say still lies with the CEO,” Torres told Saipan Tribune, adding that whoever sits as corporation CEO can either take or reject what the board approves or recommends.
For example, even if the board votes to suspend or cut the housing benefits of the hospital’s off-island hires, the CEO still has the final word on the issue.
“Even if we decided [at the board level] to cut or suspend this benefit, if the CEO feels that it needs to be kept and has the funds to do it, it’s his call,” he explained.
Compared to other governing boards of other agencies, the corporation board is also not required to regularly meet but can call for any special meeting of members, Torres said.
If there’s one power that lies within the corporation board’s power, it is in evaluating the performance of the CEO every year.
Torres said that the board has full confidence in Babauta’s ability to turn around the financial state of the public hospital.
Babauta is technically just a “volunteer” at the corporation after he chose to keep his “retiree” status and continue receiving his pension instead of an $80,000 annual salary.
Torres also lauded Babauta’s decision to implement the board-recommended emergency workforce reduction to reduce the organization’s personnel cost. The corporation needs $800,000 every two weeks to meet its payroll.
The corporation board has seven voting members: Torres, Pedro Dela Cruz, Roy Rios, Anthony Aguon, Dr. Jeremy Richards, Anthony Raho, and Babauta.
