Banking on Errol - Greene to stay in the west until problems at the Cornwall Regional Hospital are fixed
Published:Friday | January 18, 2019 | 12:00 AMErica Virtue
Chief executive officer of the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) Errol Greene will not be returning to that institution anytime soon.
Greene had been seconded to the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) for six months last April and should have returned to the KPH last November, but Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton last week confirmed that Greene's sojourn in western Jamaica has been extended for at least six months, and possibly a year.
"So far, yes, I am happy with leadership he is providing with his team under extraordinary circumstances," Tufton told The Sunday Gleaner.
LEADINGTHETEAM
Greene was sent to the WRHA to lead the team there after it was discovered that the problems facing the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), the largest in that region, were more severe than initially diagnosed.
Tufton requested the services of Greene, who began a meticulous clean-up at the hospital, which was almost shut down and most of its services moved to other facilities.
Contacted last week, Greene said that he was prepared to stay at the WRHA.
"The circumstances are challenging, but I consider what I am doing to be in service for my country. This is not about anyone, this is about Jamaica. So I am doing the best I can with the team I have," Greene told The Sunday Gleaner.
His responsibilities include overseeing hospitals and health centres in Trelawny, St James, Hanover, and Westmoreland, but the major renovation and upgrading of the CRH is his main focus.
Greene has earned the respect of several of the major players in the health sector, including opposition spokesman on health Dr Dayton Campbell, who has said that he has no issues with him.
"Getting information from the ministry is a different matter, but I would not lay that at the feet of Mr Greene. Personally, I have had no problems with him, and I don't find there is a reluctance to respond to questions when I have them. So, no, I have no problems with him," said Campbell.
But even as Greene tries to fix the problems in the west, there are many at the KPH who are longing for the return of their CEO.