Bynoe-Sutherland asks for chance to lead QEH

Just give me a chance!

That is the plea of recently appointed executive chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland.

The Mia Mottley Government has come under fire and heavy criticism since it was announced earlier this week that Bynoe-Sutherland, the wife of Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce Dwight Sutherland, had been picked to take up the new post.

As executive chairman she will report directly to the Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic.

One of the people who opposed the move was outspoken Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn, who claimed Government was finding jobs for family, friends and party hacks.

However, speaking during the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) Annual Convention at Queen’s Park this evening, Bynoe-Sutherland, who previously served as chairman of the hospital’s board, asked for a chance to prove she could turn around the fortunes of the island’s main health institution.

“Judge me by my results,” she said to rapturous applause from the crowd of BLP faithful present.

“I have every confidence in the board of directors of the QEH. This is an eminently qualified group of persons who are committed and who go above and beyond. We also have a staff at the QEH who don’t always get things right but the vast majority of staff at the hospital do the best they can every single day.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I say to you, we the Barbados Labour Party, the Government, has a lot of goodwill within the QEH and together we will do it and prove the naysayers wrong,” Bynoe-Sutherland maintained.

She said her goal was to make the QEH one of the best places to receive medical care in the world. (RB)