Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health Board Chairman Rocky Rodriguez resigned this week to reportedly attend to "medical family issues and his business." Mr. Rodriguez was one of five Broward Health officials who were indicted last December over their decision to fire the health system's former CEO, according to the Sun Sentinel.
Here are five things to know about the situation.
1. A board member announced Mr. Rodriguez's resignation during a board committee meeting March 28. No details regarding his resignation were immediately available, according to the report.
2. Mr. Rodriguez was among the five Broward Health leaders who were indicted in December 2017 for allegedly violating the state's open-meetings law following the dismissal of one of the health system's previous interim CEOs. The five individuals filed a motion last December arguing the indictment should be dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct and grand jury abuse. Mr. Rodriguez has denied any wrongdoing.
3. An attorney on behalf of Mr. Rodriguez told the Sun Sentinel Mr. Rodriguez "has devoted his life to public service and he needs to deal with medical family issues and his business. To be clear, Rocky's resignation was in no way related to these misdemeanor charges. … He intends to fight these allegations that he violated the Sunshine Law."
4. The board has postponed the selection of a new chairman until their April board meeting.
5. Mr. Rodriguez provided the sole dissenting vote in January to not hire Beverly Capasso, Broward Health's interim CEO at the time, to permanently lead the system. Ms. Capasso, also one of the five individuals indicted last year, was approved after the board rejected all the finalists selected during a national search. During the March 28 meeting, the board approved Ms. Capasso's compensation package, which could total up to $1.13 million, including bonuses, according to the report.
To access the Sun Sentinel report, click here.