Louise Jackson: ‘BHB Continue To Stonewall’
“We appreciate that the Bermuda Hospitals Board responded to questions regarding the resignation of Dr. Donald Thomas, but they failed to provide answers,” Opposition spokesperson for Seniors Louise Jackson said.
Dr Thomas was employed as Chief of Staff from June 2008 to October 2012. He was placed on “administrative leave” during this past summer, and formally resigned on October 1st 2012. The BHB have always declined to comment on what exactly prompted the leave and resignation.
In a statement released earlier this week Mrs Jackson asked a number of questions, saying the BHB’s statement announcing Dr. Thomas’s resignation “is simply not good enough” and it lacked “transparency.”
“In fact, they continue to stonewall about issues that the public has a right to know. Their refusal to discuss these specific issues, unfortunately, reduces their credibility in general and lowers the confidence that the public has in the BHB and the ability of the hospital to deliver quality of healthcare Bermudians deserve.
“The OBA believes that if there has been mismanagement, if there has been misconduct, it is better to admit it and then demonstrate how the BHB will prevent it from being repeated. That is called transparency. That demonstrates accountability. That shows the leadership that has been sorely lacking thus far.
“Initiating a Clinical and Corporate Governance Review is a good first step, although despite the Ombudsman’s involvement, we believe it should be an independent investigation. Only then will the public have complete confidence in the findings.
“For now, we can guess at the problems the BHB has allowed to fester by looking carefully at the scope of the review.
“We have repeatedly said that the law—the Bermuda Hospitals Act—requires the BHB to release the salaries of senior management. For the BHB to say they won’t release this information because it has not been done before is ludicrous. They are not abiding by the law. It’s that simple,” concluded Mrs Jackson.
Go get em Action Jackson. What will Bermuda do when you retire? A sad loss that will be.
Obviously this guy screwed up a few years back somewhere other than Bermuda. Applied and received the job as the boss at the hospital. He was trying to turn his life around like many of us do.
And at whose expense? Who gave him the job?
Well…..it’s obviously at our (taxpayers’) expense and it’s equally obvious who hired him!
Hint: “….unethical but not illegal”…..
We paid an incompetent liar millions of dollars to run the hospital, and the government won’t answer questions about it, and you’re fine with that?
Okay, the guy is a con artist, Ewart hired him. Like ALL the things DocB did during his tenure, it was a massive failure, and cost us dearly. In this deal, only two “people” made out like bandits. I can copy and paste this comment on so many other things that have failed, should I start up on the hill in St. Georges, and work my way west?
I think BHB’s response is very telling;
“BHB cannot detail individual matters [but] certain accountability structures have been strengthened recently”
mmmmmmm I wonder why?
Where have we heard that before?
Something about ‘recalibration’ or ‘resetting the dial’ blah blah blah ….
Cox is not only the Premier, but the Finance Minister as well. She is in a position to order Zane to comply with the law by releasing the information. Is she happy with one(at least)of her Ministers showing such contempt for the taxpayer?
It isn’t rocket science to figure out why she will not/cannot touch him.
“Testicular fortitude” and “transparency” are her buzzwords — right?
You are right! Will someone please ask the PLP, “Who is really the puppet?” Stand strong for Bermudians Premier Cox! Unfortunately the strings will not allow her to. “Who is really the puppet?”
The Auditor General indicated that the results of her investigations and the fact that relevant information was withheld have caused her serious concern.
The Premier did not tell the Auditor General what happen nor did she require her MPs to release the information. She can’t do it! The puppet master will not allow it.
Keep asking why Bermuda. Keep asking why. Ask her to stand strong for Bermudians and hold the people accountable.
Cox has given up. She has spent the last 3 months travelling to the Olympics and various places in the US and Carribean to collect vanity ‘women’s awards’. And there was the fluff photo day last week in a deserted St Georges looking at empty shops. In the meantime, no comment about the hundreds who have lost their jobs this summer, other than her bizarre statement about the economy ‘recovering’.
She still hasn’t been confirmed as a candidate for re-election. I wonder why?
What’s encouraging is that for the first time I see black and white Bermudians working together. Its bad for everybody now. I hope the island has learned from ALL the sins of the past and WE move forward together before its to late.
I still believe in Bermuda.
What movie you have been looking at? I see 90% 10% OBA oh nvm that’s the movie.
Cox was lost from the time her daddy passed. She does not have it. They want a family legacy because they think they are the black elite in Bermuda. She needs to LEAD! WE go from Ewart in overdrive to Cox in Reverse. She lacks leadership, humility, decisiveness and connectedness with the people. She is not a peoples person. I dont know what she is doing in those gombey outfits that she prances around it. With Scott Simmons, Micheal Scott and Robert Horton as confidents, friends, advisors and employees where can she get any oxygen? I dont see conviction, competence and compassion. She lacks vision and though she is articulate she fails to articulate her plan. We have a problem because she does not have the intelligence around her to help her. I suggest she get Jonathan Smith as her Deputy and give him a Ministry and be honest about her weaknesses. It will get worse before it gets better…
We need to go after Mrs Vannetta Symonds.
She is where the buck stops.
Wendell Brown and Zane Desilva are a blocking her from being seen and dealt with. She was there when the hired Thomas she was second in command when he did whatever he did. She is the CEO now and we should know how much is she making. Is it a justified salary and the rest of her admin team. THis whole idea of doing a review with the Ombudsman is crazy. We need to know what was going on that caused then to implement a review. To my knowledge they had Hopkins do a review, they had Ewarts ACE-BOY Corbett Price do a review, they had Lahey do a review….what has happened that we need an outside review again. THe last we heard from the Ombudsman was for a race relations review. We have not heard a thing since…did they get rid of the racist or are they still there in the surgery department, the anesthesia department and the Emergency department. THis hospital and the Ombudsman need to come clean. some where between these 3 women including Madame Premier, Vannetta Symonds and the Ombudsman we need to have transparency
the problem is that the island is so small and they all went to Berkely and they all are around the same age group that it is hard to see how they can see clearly now that thomas is gone. I guess the independent review and the British Smart guy that they just hired somebody will get somewhere but the answer is who broke the hospital and how much will it cost to fix it. What ever happened to Wendell Hollis the Lawyer who oversaw THomas. Whatever happened to Herman TUcker the great one…who was arrogantly making decisions by letting Thomas lead him by the nose. Where is David Hill to Answer for his near 1 million dollars. THis is a mess. Vannetta needs to answer especially since she is making over 500,000 dollars a year and she never went to Medical School or Business school… That is a lot for on the job training and a few crash courses overseas…I think she needs to speak up or sit down…we need leadership and we need transperancy and we need competence….
Well said