Miami-based primary care provider Cano Health is to separate the chair and CEO role held jointly up to now by Marlow Hernandez, DO, in a bid to maximize "its compelling near- and long-term value creation potential."
In an April 17 letter to shareholders, where it criticized the recent resignations of three former board directors, describing their comments as "inaccurate, disruptive, and misleading," Cano Health said it would appoint Solomon Trujillo as the non-executive chair of the board, effective immediately.
"The board determined that separating the roles of chairman and CEO will allow the CEO to focus his full attention on executing our operating plan, while enhancing the company's governance structure and board oversight," the company said in a statement.
Such a move falls short of recent demands from former directors Barry Sternlicht, Elliot Cooperstone and Lewis Gold, MD, to remove Dr. Hernandez from the CEO role. The directors have formed a group representing almost 36 percent of Cano Health shares to "enhance shareholder value."
The same directors said in an April 17 statement they are urging the company to allow for alternative directors to be nominated to the board at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting to potentially avoid "blindly supporting a deeply tarnished CEO."