JAMAICA | Opposition says Tufton Must Respond to Serious Assertions By Former UHWI Chairman

Kingston, Jamaica. December 12, 2023: Opposition Spokesperson on Health and Wellness, Dr. Morais Guy, says new assertions by the former Chairman of the Board of the University Hospital of the West Indies, Mr. Wayne Chai Chong, of Ministerial interference and overreach in the work of the hospital board are serious and may constitute Ministerial misbehaviour.

In a statement today, Dr. Guy said the former chairman's detailing of the issues leading to his resignation and the subsequent firing of the board gives a pattern of inappropriate behaviour in the recruitment of a new Chief Executive Officer for the hospital.

Consequently, Dr. Guy said the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Christopher Tufton, MP, must give a public explanation of his actions in interfering in and circumventing the process in the recruitment.

He said it was the board's duty and mandate to ensure transparency in executing the process, in which the Minister has no direct role. "The tale of out-of-place and unwarranted Ministerial subterfuge is, therefore, unbecoming and warrants further and better particulars from Dr. Tufton," he said.

The Opposition Spokesperson said in his previous statement on the issue, he told the nation that the recruitment was the cause of the bad relations between the Minister and the board.

He also warned that the matter had the potential to affect services at UHWI and the wider public health care system. He said after the former chairman's statement, he is more convinced of potential disruption at the hospital due to bad blood between top management and top medical staff at the Hospital.

Dr. Guy said it is not an issue which will disappear with the installation of the new Patrick Hylton led board.

"This issue along with Ministerial interference which seems to have caused the recruited CEO not to take up the job after an orientation trip, remains a concern", he said.

Dr. Guy said the Minister's statement about the board's dysfunctionality and personality clashes cannot, therefore, be true and was rightly challenged by Mr. Chai Chong, who has now provided credible details of the dispute.

Dr. Guy concluded that the Opposition required assurances that the hospital's working environment was free of toxicity and normalcy would prevail at the institution which is so critical to the delivery of health services to a large percentage of the Jamaican population.

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