The Mercy Hospital: yesterday and today

Jun 16, 2008 Letters

Dear Editor,
Those days of yesteryear when the Mercy Hospital played a preponderant role under the guidance of Dr. Bettencourt Gomes and Sister Margaret are no more.

What a shame, as I am told that the Mercy Hospital is the only Catholic hospital in the region – A region that includes the West Indian islands.

The present state of the Mercy Hospital speaks for itself – a testimony that many can verify.

The Mercy Hospital’s gradual decline over the years could have been averted had the strategic plans formulated by the Sage Group Inc. been implemented.

The Sage Group Inc. is an organisation of international repute, well adapted to the evaluation of hospitals. This group made an in-depth study of the Mercy Hospital some eight years ago.
A report and recommendations covering 50 pages was duly submitted to the relevant authorities.

This report, which proposed radical changes, was ignored and shelved. An example of the proposed changes is on page 31 of the Strategic Plan, and I quote: “Restructure the existing Board (of Directors) to include at least three physician representatives.”

Needless to say, this was never done. This state of affairs, where inappropriate decisions are made, seems to be ongoing. For example, quite recently the following incident occurred: I was reliably informed that the post of CEO will become vacant in November 2008.

This post was never officially advertised and, therefore, to all intents and purposes, was still vacant. An application for this post was made on 23rd April, 2008, a copy of which, together with the CV, was sent to all members of the Board and senior members of the Church.

However, on 8th May, 2008, the applicant was informed that “No vacancy exists for the post of CEO.”
What bizarrerie in view of the facts stated above!! A resume’ of the credentials of the applicant, who is 62 years of age and can be seen quite often at the 6:00 am daily mass at the Brickdam Cathedral, is as follows: Network and Customer Manager for 25 years; Diploma in Marketing and Management from UK; Diploma in Policy and procedures from the U.S.A (University of San Francisco); attachment to sister co. in St. Thomas Virgin Islands. All of the above can be appropriately corroborated.

To summarize, the Mercy Hospital is in dire need of help. She needs to be rescued without delay to avoid further deterioration. The appropriate steps to be taken are:

(1) Implementation of the Strategic Plan for restructuring the Mercy Hospital, by the Sage Group Inc.

(2) Employment of competent personnel.

It is incumbent that appropriate action be taken now by the Church.

John Fredericks, M.D.