Rehoboth-McKinley hospital board fires CEO
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Rehoboth-McKinley Christian Hospital medical staff protest on May 8 about the hospital’s CEO, David Conejo, in Gallup.
WINDOW ROCK
The hospital CEO who was making more than $950,000 a year has been fired.
David Conejo, whose annual salary was $645,640, according to the 2017 Rehoboth-McKinley Christian Health Care Services 1099 tax forms, was fired on Thursday by the hospital’s board of trustees.
A management agreement between the hospital and his company, Healthcare Integrity, which made $305,441 in 2019, was also terminated.
Conejo is also no longer a member of the board.
The board appointed Mary Bevier, the hospital’s CFO, as interim CEO.
New Mexico State Auditor Brian S. Colón said in a news release he was “encouraged” by Bevier’s appointment.
“I will monitor the transition of leadership as she takes on the role of interim CEO,” Colón said.
On May 30 medical professionals from the nonprofit hospital held a protest against Conejo. They said wanted to bring to attention Canejo’s incompetency to lead the second largest hospital in Gallup.
Chief Medical Officer Valory Wangler said when he fired 17 contract nurses, it forced the already severely understaffed hospital to care for more COVID-19 patients than they could handle.
Wangler said Canejo went against the direction of the hospital’s chief nursing officer, who told him not to terminate the contract nurses.
“We’re currently struggling to take care of the patients,” Wangler said on May 8. “So we are out here today asking for the resignation by our CEO David Canejo.”
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Wangler said Canejo repeatedly lied to the medical staff and did not respond to staff’s concerns.
The medical staffers called a vote of no confidence “expressing our lack of confidence in the CEO’s ability to manage the hospital,” Wangler said, which was presented to board of directors at a April 30 special meeting.
Colón said he continue to be “attentive and vigilant” over the “hospital’s fiscal operations.”
“Ultimately, the hospital must work to restore trust to the community it serves and ensure the families of McKinley County receive the high-quality medical care they deserve,” Colón said.
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