NA Hospital CEO still on the job – Minister Cummings

Junior Health Minister, Dr Karen Cummings on Tuesday said that the Chief Executive Officer of the New Amsterdam Hospital, Dr Samantha Kennedy, is still on the job.
In a missive to the media, the Minister stated: “I would like to categorically state that to the best of my knowledge, the CEO of the New Amsterdam Hospital was never dismissed by the Ministry of Public Health”. Several media outlets have published that Dr Kennedy was fired on Thursday last after the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) was informed by the Chairman of the Regional Health Committee, Zamal Hussain, that the CEO was dismissed.
With respect to reports about the NA Hospital CEO being granted leave two days after her appointment to the post; the Minister said that Kennedy along with Dr Carlos Martin travelled to Israel to read for a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Systems Management at the Galilee International Management Institute.
On Monday, residents of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) staged another picketing exercise outside of the New Amsterdam Hospital following reports that the CEO remains on the job even after the RDC had announced that she would be removed.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Regional Health Committee, Zamal Hussain warned that the region will not sit idly by and allow the New Amsterdam Hospital to be mismanaged. The issues at the New Amsterdam Hospital were highlighted some weeks ago when frustrated residents in the region took to the streets to protest, among other things, poor services at the facility, drug shortages, the death of a resident and the nonfunctioning mortuary.