A chief executive officer (CEO) has been chosen for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and it is not a Bajan.
According to Minister of Health and Wellness, The Most Honourable Dr Jerome Walcott, only two Barbadians were among the 84 people who applied for the post and neither of them had the required experience.
“Both of them were deemed not suitably qualified,” he told the Senate on Monday as he led off debate on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
He disclosed the initial 84 was whittled down to 12 and six were shortlisted to be interviewed. However, one person “dropped out” and the remaining five went through the interview process.
“We have made the selection, so that process is on track,” Dr Walcott said. He did not say when the identity of the selected candidate would be announced.
The health minister reminded that in 2019, changes to the hospital’s management structures, aimed at improving governance and efficiency, resulted in the abolition of the CEO post and the creation of an executive chairman position.
He said that “worked very well” during the COVID-19 pandemic when decisions had to be made “quickly” and “decisive action taken”.
“However, post-COVID, the process has not worked as efficiently as anticipated. A decision was made to revert to the original governance structure as we embark on a new strategy to tackle these problems, hence why we are here today,” Dr Walcott said as he commended the former executive chairman Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland for “outstanding leadership . . . in marshalling her troops, her directors . . . to face the herculean task as COVID”.
Opposition Senator Ryan Walters, in his contribution to the debate, said the amendment showed the government recognised it had made a mistake in combining the posts.
“We are here to reverse that short-lived decision . . . and to revert to the previous model of having the CEO that reports directly to the board. . . . We are back where we started,” he said.
“The question is, have we wasted time and taxpayers’ money with this decision that was taken in 2019? Having to reverse the decision is an admission by this administration that it made a misstep and they are now seeking to correct it, right? Because if it was an effective structure, we would not be back here to repeal the sections of the Act that speak to the appointment and dismissal of an executive chairman.”
Walters argued that the initial decision was not a good one, saying: “The board at the QEH is an important element of the operations at the QEH because it offers an independent view of the management of the operations. So it was never a good decision to mix those two, having the chairman of the board being an executive officer, because it took away that independence to ensure that the operations were being done in accordance with the mandate of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on behalf of the citizens of Barbados”.
“So this is a learning opportunity for this government; a good and sufficient reason why we must not seek to politicise the affairs of the hospital. I’m happy to hear that we are moving back to a position where we have that level of independence in terms of the management structure of the hospital. So, unnecessary tinkering is not what we need at the hospital,” Walters added. (FW)
