Head of Benton Franklin Health District placed on admin leave after closed-door meeting
The 12-year administrator of the Benton Franklin Health District was placed on administrative leave after a Wednesday meeting of the health district board.
The seven members of the board started the meeting by tacking on a session closed to the public that had not been included on the agenda.
Attending the closed-door executive session with the board was the district’s attorney, Chris Mertens, and a person Mertens said was an independent consultant to the health district on human resources and employment issues.
Health district administrator Jason Zaccaria was not in the closed meeting, which the health district said was to review the performance of an employee.
No vote was taken by the board after the meeting reconvened in public, and Zaccaria participated in the rest of the meeting. He was working remotely and not in the office Wednesday.
Later in the afternoon board Chairman Will McKay, a Benton County commissioner, placed Zaccaria on administrative leave. The decision was made by McKay, Mertens said.
Mertens and McKay declined to discuss the reason, with Mertens saying it was a personnel issue.
Zaccaria could not be reached Thursday morning by the Tri-City Herald.
He has been the district administrator for 12 years. Previously he has been an administrator at outpatient clinics and hospitals and held an executive leadership role with the Hanford site occupational medicine clinics.
Eight months ago union leaders for the health district staff said workers had no confidence in Zaccaria, but it’s not clear whether that influenced the decision on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, a meeting of the staff of the Tri-Cities-based district was called near the end of the business day and employees were told that Zaccaria was on leave.
Janae Parent, the district’s assistant administrator, now is in charge of day-to-day operations.
No timeline has been set for Zaccaria’s administrative leave.
In November, Suzie Saunders, representative for PROTEC17, a union representing public health workers, read from a letter submitted to the health board that claimed Zaccaria had a history of sudden terminations, absences during the COVID-19 pandemic and favoritism toward some workers.
The Washington State Nurses Association fully supports the PROTEC17 letter, said union representative Laurie Robinson at the meeting.
After the November meeting, Zaccaria said when contacted by the Herald that there were many inaccuracies in the letter.
And the district board appeared to stand by Zaccaria at that time.
The makeup of the board has changed since then. It grew from the six county commissioners of Benton and Franklin counties to two county commissioners from each of those counties plus three members of the public, who are health or environment professionals.
The change was made to comply with a new Washington state law.
