Nestor Bonilla Appointed Interim Administrator/CEO of Maverick County Hospital District
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2024
The Maverick County Hospital District (MCHD) Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Alma Martinez and appointed Chief Financial Officer Nestor Bonilla as the Interim Administrator/Chief Executive Officer at its special meeting held on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas.
The resignation of Alma Martinez and subsequent appointment of Nestor Bonilla could not have come at a more critical time for the taxpayer supported public healthcare entity as it is currently in the middle of its 2024-2025 fiscal year budget planning process, about to hold a public election of three of its current Board of Directors in the November 5, 2024 general election, and its 25 year contract with Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center’s parent company, Universal Health Services, Inc., is set to expire, be renewed or renegotiated while reportedly sustaining significant financial losses or budget deficits in recent years.
The MCHD has also expanded the healthcare services offered to the over 60,000 Maverick County residents in recent years during the leadership of former CEO Alma Martinez, including the opening of an Urgent Care Center in the community.
The MCHD Board of Directors annually holds its new fiscal year budget planning process during the months of July through September, including the setting of its ad valorem tax rate for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Although newly appointed Interim Administrator/CEO Nestor Bonilla and the Board of Directors have their hands full at the local hospital district, there is not a better person within the District to manage the business and healthcare services than its own Chief Financial Officer who has handled its financial budget during recent years.
At the July 5, 2024 special meeting, the Eagle Pass Business Journal learned that former CEO Alma Martinez had requested a severance pay package from the District, which was discussed in Executive Session behind closed doors. Details of any severance pay package were not disclosed during the Open Session of the July 5th meeting.
Following the Executive Session, the Board of Directors appointed Bonilla as its new Interim Administrator/CEO until a permanent CEO search and selection process is implemented later this year after the November 5, 2024 general election.
