BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

MASSENA -- Massena Memorial Hospital Board chairperson Loretta Perez says she and St. Lawrence Health System CEO David Acker have never discussed if the MMH board should fire Charles Gijanto.

Gijanto was terminated as CEO after Monday night’s Board of Managers meeting. MMH Chief Financial Officer Pat Facteau was named interim CEO in Gijanto’s place.

At the Monday night MMHG board meeting, former Massena town supervisor Joe Gray said during public comment that sources have told him that Acker refuses to engage in affiliation negotiations with MMH until they fire Gijanto.

At the meeting, Perez refused to say if she and Acker ever discussed Gijanto.

However, on the phone on Tuesday morning, Perez said they didn’t talk about the MMH CEO.

“Have I heard that? Yes. Did I hear it from him? I’m 99 percent positive he didn’t say it to me,” Perez said.

On Monday night, she and Dr. Jayant Jhaveri both said they spoke with Acker on Sunday, Jhaveri in person and Perez later in the day on the phone.

“I remember asking him about employees and how many jobs and things like that,” Perez said.

She wouldn’t say why the MMH board decided to fire Gijanto two months earlier than announced when he was hired at the end of August. At the time, hospital officials said he would be CEO for nine to 12 months.

Perez didn’t want to say much about the decision out of concern for potentially divulging information she is not legally allowed to reveal.

“There were board members who were not happy with his performance,” Perez said, and would not comment on their identities. She said that she did not cast a vote on the resolution to fire Gijanto.

The board voted six in favor of terminating Gijanto, two against, and one abstained. How each member voted was not immediately available.