Health Minister denies appointment of new CEO at Diamond Hospital

Despite social media posts by Collin Haynes, a reported Alliance For Change (AFC) member indicating that he is the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer of the East Bank Regional Hospital, commonly known as Diamond Hospital, Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton said no individual has yet been selected officially to fill the position.
Subsequent to the post on Wednesday, speculation had been raised over the fact that Haynes, an overseas-based Guyanese, who has been residing in Maryland, USA for a number of years prior to his “appointment”, had been chosen over other individuals who are residents of Guyana.
However, Dr Norton, during a telephone interview with Guyana Times, contradicted these claims by Haynes, confirming that there has not been any appointment made. He added that candidates who applied for the post were still being scrutinised by the committee to decide on who best fitted the position.
The Minister added that while Haynes possessed the necessary qualifications for CEO, there were no assurances of whether or not he would be the selected individual.
“There has not been any appointment of a CEO attached to the hospital even though he holds the qualifications needed. Currently, persons are still being considered for the post,” he affirmed.
On Wednesday, which was said to be Haynes’ first day on the job, he had posted images on Facebook of him paying courtesy calls on families in Grove.
He had even updated his profile’s biography to “Chief Executive Officer of East Bank Regional Hospital.”
These were followed by a number of congratulatory messages from friends who commended Haynes for achieving the aforementioned position at the hospital.
While the Minister did not indicate a specific time when the new CEO would take up the office at the hospital, he reiterated that the selection phase was still ongoing.