Observers ask: Is the Health Minister flexing his political muscle?

Aug 10, 2016 News

The Order made under the Public Corporation Act, 1988, which governs the operation of Corporations, including the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), gives certain distinct powers to a Board of Directors.
According to the Order, the Board of Directors, consisting of a chairman and other members, are appointed by the concerned Minister under Section Four of the Act.
This therefore means that Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, was the one responsible for appointing Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GPHC, Dr. Carl ‘Max’ Hanoman, and the other members.
According to the Order, while the Minister is assigned responsibility for the Board, if there is no Board, the Minister has sole responsibility for the entity in question. But if there is no Minister, the President is tasked with that responsibility.
However, once a Board is in place, it has the responsibility for appointing an Executive Director who essentially is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Corporation. The CEO, according to the Order, “shall, subject to the general direction and control of the Board, be responsible for implementing the decisions of the Board and the management of the affairs and activities of the Corporation.”
It is for this reason that observers have been questioning the authority of the Minister of Public Health to rescind a decision by the Board of the GPHC. The Chairman of the Board had recently written to the Corporation’s CEO, Mr. Michael Khan, asking that he resume duties. Khan was sent on administrative leave last year to facilitate a forensic audit of the hospital’s procurement process.
The findings of the audit, based on the view of the Board, had cleared Khan of allegations of wrongdoing. This publication was reliably informed that the Board had voted on whether Khan should return, but the members were divided.
A member of the Board had told this publication that because a unanimous decision was not arrived at, a decision was made to write to Minister Norton to intervene.
The member had revealed that “…We have a consensus to let the Minister know the findings of the audit…We have written to the Minister and we are awaiting his response in terms of guidance on the way forward,” the member informed. The Board member disclosed too that “some folks are optimistic that Khan will return, some are not and some are just not saying anything…It is kind of ‘ticklish’.”
Minister Norton had confirmed that being the Minister responsible for the Corporation, he was asked to look into the state of affairs. It was for this reason, this publication understands, that the Minister was in a position to rescind the decision by the Chairman to ask Khan to resume duties to allow for the audit findings to be thoroughly evaluated.
But according to the Minister “we have not evaluated fully the audit report.” However, according to him, “when one, even at a glance, evaluates the (audit) report, there is so much evidence (against Khan), enough for him to be deprived of further employment (at the GPHC).”
The Minister disclosed too that, at this point, “any decision that does not have the approval of the Minister is in violation of the Order.” He asserted that the Board’s decision to reinstate Khan without his blessings should not have been since it is in violation of the Order.
But when the Order is taken into careful consideration, some observers are asking whether the Minister is merely “flexing his political muscle.”

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Observers ask: Is the Health Minister flexing his political muscle?

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