El Paso Children’s Hospital CEO, board chair give their take

consensual nature of the agreement required sacrifice. the next step is finalizing the new children’s board … it will have 7 members … four of them have already been named. abc-7’s ashlie rodriguez attended children’s news conference today. she’s live with the next steps. a new board and a new ceo — we heard from rosemary castillo who will be choosing her replacement on children’s board. she said this board can focus not on children’s financials — but its future. we want to thank our current and former members of the board for their tireless and voluntary dedication to protecting the independent operation of the children’s hospital. children’s independence was a reoccuring theme at board chair rosemary castillo’s news conference. she said her board believed umc would honor its promises to not profit from the children’s hospital — but the spirit of coorperation was lost along the way. now — a fresh start, a new chapter and new partner. we recognize that the new board has a big responsibility. – the new chiildren’s board consists of four u- m-c picked members- – they are ron acton, ted houghton, patrick gordon and miguel fernandez. – children’s will pick two…castillo said she has interviewed a number of people already. – in the mean time she and dr. sadhana chheda are temporarily filling in. – children’s doctors get one pick…they have yet to make their decision next up…a new ceo. one of the challenges is any candidate that might be interested wants to know have you gotten confirmation of your plan. children’s search for a new ceo has been stymied by the uncertainty of bankruptcy. as it continues — george p. caralis will be heading the ship, replacing mark herber in january. he’s a consultant out of detroit who’s worked on several hospital’s there. herber’s expects a permanent ceo to be found by summer. until them caralis will be paid $170,000. castillo says a new board and ceo can lead unburdened by the past, working to to continue to grow programs and services offered by epch — where miracles happen every day. when castillo was asked if the former board was to blame to steering children’s into bankruptcy– she said that responsibility is shared with umc. along with the administrative changes, children’s will also have to resume payment for operations… and its debts. children’s attorneys said the hospital has about $7.8 million dollars in cash on hand… despite resuming payments to umc and others. as part of his testimony, current children’s ceo mark herbers credited new cash management policies, a modest growth in patient services and new charging systems among others things … and said that cash management is reason the joint bankruptcy plan