New Jackson CEO Migoya To Take Over On Sunday

MIAMI (CBS4)- Carlos Migoya is set to begin his new post on Sunday. He was officially named chief executive of the Jackson Health System on Friday at what may have been the last meeting of the Public Health Trust, the system's governing body.

"We have a lot of work that needs to be done immediately," Migoya told the nine of 16 Trust members who showed up.

High on his to-do list: starting negotiations with Jackson's unions, whose contracts expire Sept. 30.

He takes over a system that has lost more than $330 million in the past two years and is projected to lose $106 million this fiscal year. "Jackson is definitely at a crossroads," said Marcos Lapciuc, serving as Trust chair for the first time at Friday's meeting. "Our days of cash on hand is abysmal."

The county commission is scheduled to discuss a proposal on Tuesday that would replace the Trust with a new seven-member Financial Recovery Board. If approved, it would take over as soon as four members are appointed, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

Migoya's contract approved Friday has an annual base salary of $590,000 with another $107,000 in benefits. If the system shows the government equivalent of a profit, Migoya could get up to $295,000 in bonuses.

The contract is for two years. If he is terminated without cause before it ends or if the hospitals are sold, he will get a severance package equivalent to one year's salary. Starting next January, he will get the same cost-of-living increase that any other Jackson employee gets.

Migoya replaces Eneida Roldan. Her contract ran through May 31. It was terminated Friday so that Migoya could take over on May 1. Roldan will get paid for the month on terms of her contract. She was not present at Friday's meeting. An aide said she was attending a previously scheduled conference out of town.

Chief Financial Officer Mark Knight told the Trust that the system lost $2 million in March – its best month this fiscal year. But both in-patient and out-patient volumes are still down, causing the long-term projections to look grim.

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