Jackson Questions Dr Thomas’ Resignation
The Minister of Health and the Bermuda Hospitals Board must provide Bermuda with answers to the many questions surrounding the tenure and resignation of the hospital’s high-priced Chief of Staff Dr. Donald Thomas, Opposition Seniors spokesman Louise Jackson said this afternoon.
Mrs Jackson said: “The BHB’s two-paragraph press statement announcing Dr. Thomas’s resignation is simply not good enough.”
“Its lack of transparency on this issue – aided and abetted by the Minister of Health – is exactly the kind of thing the Bermudian people have had enough of, particularly given that the controversy involves the management of millions of dollars of public money and the cost of people’s health care treatment.
“The Minister and the BHB must stop hiding behind self-made agreements to keep matters of public concern confidential. They can begin by answering the following questions:
- Why was Thomas hired in the first place given his questionable job history in California and licensing problems in Florida?
- Why was he suspended in the first place – and what procedures has the BHB put in place to make sure these problems won’t be repeated in the future?
- Why won’t the minister release Dr. Thomas’s salary information as required by the Bermuda Hospitals Board Act?
- Was Dr. Thomas on fully paid administrative leave since being suspended in July?
- We understand that Thomas has a major role in the creation and operation of Health Partners Limited (HPL). Will the Minister explain HPL’s $714,000 loss which was cited in the most recent BHB financial statements?
- What role did Dr. Thomas have in redirecting patients away from many of the local healthcare diagnostic firms, as well as charities like the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre, and putting these small businesses and their employees at risk of business failure?
- The hospital has been the largest single driver of escalating healthcare costs in Bermuda in the last two years, which has caused every Bermudian to pay more. What role did Dr. Thomas play in the sharp increase in salaries at the BHB? What role did Dr. Thomas play in increasing specialist fees, some by 300 percent over the last several years?”
“These questions – and they are just the tip of the iceberg – cut to the heart of the need for greater accountability and transparency in the governance of Bermuda. Until we get that, distrust and doubt will remain along with the potential for the public interest,” concluded Mrs Jackson.
Read More About
Comments (21)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Articles that link to this one:
- BHB Answers To Louise Jackson’s Questions | Bernews.com | October 2, 2012
- Health Minister On BHB/Dr Donald Thomas | Bernews.com | October 2, 2012
Uh Oh….Here comes the pitbull. Go get em Louise. Don’t let go. Get full diclosure out of them.
Mrs Jackson is right on target. You cannot in good faith extract $400,000,000 out of a community and choose to go quiet. PATI please
+1
Absolutely right. Thanks for your voice Mrs. Jackson.
Good on yer, Louise.
We desperately need some honesty on our Island instead of…well, you know what we’ve had for the past decade!
Make sure you don’t agree to hold your breath while waiting for an answer, however.
The Cog’s “committment” to transparent government is just more of the PLP’s verbal hot air and another bunch of baloney.
Who the hell will replace Louise Jackson ? she is a real trooper. and she cares about people….. I love this women.
+1
She’s from the old school. When integrity counted. They don’t make them like that anymore.
I don’t think the PLP ever met Integrity.
More of the same. The real story will be buried in some non-disclosure agreement. I will be interested to find out the facts that are supposed to be public record though….
To be honest most Bermudians don’t know who Dr. Thomas is and don’t care why he resigned. We do care that the Hospital oard is not following the law in releasing the salary information. It is time for the Attorney General to answer for this as she is the top legal officer.
I care why he resigned. With the strict confidentiality about him being placed on administrative leave and his resignation being shrouded by further confidentiality there is probably something there that embarrassed both the BHB and Dr Thomas. This is the same Dr Thomas that oversaw massive increases to hospital bills through changes to the billing system and an increase in foreign specialists and their fees.
Dr Thomas came in with a chequered past, made a lot of money for both himself, a handful of doctors and the BHB at the expense of the Bermudian people, then is ushered out under a veil of secrecy.
Was he involved in under the table deals that caused an increase to the cost of healthcare for the Bermudian public or was it something along the lines of sexual misconduct? Nobody cares about the latter, but the possibility of the former means that we should all be demanding answers.
My first appreciation of the culture of fear and intimidation that plagues the professionally qualified medical staff at KEMH (nurses, doctors, technicians, etc) dates as far back as 1991. I doubt that at any time since then it has ever really gone away. Those who dared to speak out were sent packing, of course especially expats. That said, the big difference between then and now is that until Dr. Thomas was installed by his pals, at least everybody was trying to pull for KEMH and not a bunch of other conflicting interests that see nothing but profits to be made from tapping into the huge cash inflows required to run a modern hospital. The crux of the questions Mrs. Jackson is asking is who was/is Dr. Thomas really working for? Thank you Mrs. Jackson.
The Government has shown that it will not exhibit transparency in these cases. It is time for the private sector investors in things like the hospital to withdraw their monetary support for these entities until some questions of public concern are answered. Hit the hospital in the wallet and see how long it takes to get answers on Dr. Thomas. Same goes for any Government entity with an element of public investment. Of course, that is not likely to happen either, as the average investor has no more conscience than Government. It’s time for Bermudians to DEMAND their legal protection and their expectation of an honest Government back.
I really don’t care why he resigned
Then don’t complain when they have stolen everything you own.
Dear Citi Zen, I feel if what he did to be released from his postition effected you & those whom you love. You would sing a different song. I have seem first hand what our hospital system can do to ones health. Also the money that this “Man” has pocketed could have been put to better our Hospital system here on our Home Island. I could list more things that money could go to. I hope that Mrs. Jackson keeps digging & uncovers all the dirt!
Oh!! I love you, Madame Jackson!!! Your questions are right on the money and we, the public deserve an answer to them. We are not asking for personal and private info but a proper and full disclosure of what is happening to OUR money.
My goodness, I wish we were a people who would march on Parliament and DEMAND the answers that we are entitled to, and not give up until we got them. Talk shows are all well and good for voicing an opinion but we, the people, need to do more than just talk.
Did Dr.Thomas cause the hospital to be sued? If so was there a compensation for his actions. IF so how much. We need to know…We dont need to know what he did but we need to know how much we paid…
I imagine there are a few virtuous maidens who happen to be doctors and nurses just dying to answer your question.
Why is Vanetta and Zane trying to play us for a fool,,,Everybody knows what happened with the Happy Doctor who has taken the BHB to court and the Happy Ladies who are getting paid…Just tell the truth and shame that devil…THomas has reaped what he has sewn….and to think it took a foreigner to kick the foreigner out of town….where are the Bermudian Doctors….they let Thomas kick them out of the hospital…charge exorbitant fees, disresect their young doctors and nobody stood up…except the american surgeon who has them running for covering….