By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
Thursday night, the Val Verde Regional Medical Center’s Board of Directors placed CEO Linda Walker on 14-business days paid leave.
After the vote, Walker’s employee badge was taken, her email access was turned off and she was escorted off of the campus.
Prior to the public vote, the board had met in executive session (behind closed doors) where the situation was discussed.
“It was a very frank meeting and everyone put their cards on the table,” Chairman of the Board Dr. Julio Otazo said.
Although the discussion was behind closed doors, two other board members said the decision centered on what many deemed “a hostile work environment” in the 47-bed, not-for-profit hospital.
Towards the end of the discussion, Chief Operations Officer Jorge Jurado was called into the meeting and asked if he would accept the interim position if offered. After the vote, he was named the interim CEO.
The board is led by Otazo. Other members are Robin A. Palmer, Cris A. Diaz, Jane Morain, Dr. Daniel Joseph Chartrand, Dr. Lee Keenen and Raul Allatorre.
Allatorre was unable to vote since he attended via phone but the vote was unanimous among remaining members.
“I’m not happy about this,” said Chartrand. “Things seemed to be running very smoothly and when things are going good you don’t want to upset the harmony. However, it wasn’t as harmonious as I believed.”
Chartrand emphasized this is merely to give them a chance to investigate allegations and nothing is final.
Walker was named CEO in the summer of 2019.
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Contact the author at JoelALangton@gmail.com .
