HSA Lawyer gone

Keith Myers	Pastor Al Ebanks

Wednesday,  October 5, 2005

The in-house lawyer for the Health Services Authority (HSA), Keith Myers, was fired last week for undisclosed reasons and was reportedly escorted off the hospital premises after his office was sealed.

Since Mr Myers was driving the legal action against local insurance agencies approximating $2.5 million in outstanding claims payments, his termination raised the question of who is going to continue the case, considering HSA’s financial crisis at hand.

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Pastor Al Ebanks confirmed that Mr Myers was terminated. 

“The HSA has some major challenges and there are some tough decisions that we have to be make,” said Pastor Ebanks.

“The Board felt the interests of the HSA would be best served to have the Attorney General representing the HSA in all legal matters.”

Pastor Ebanks added the Attorney General would be continuing legal representation with regards to the outstanding claims. 

Although the HSA has maintained the insurance companies owe approximately $2.5 million, numerous people in the insurance business have countered that the HSA’s billing system is inaccurate and they do not owe anywhere near the amount of money claimed, and considering the recent revelations about the financial mess the Authority is in they may well be right. 

Although this is the first firing of a high level employee since the new Board of Directors took over, this vacant position highlights the issue that there has been a revolving door of top management in recent years including the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Human Resources.

Additionally, HSA has experienced a high turnover with its clinical staff before and after Hurricane Ivan. 

“We are actively recruiting the most suitable people for the three posts,” said Pastor Ebanks. 

The Board had a meeting with the hospital staff on 28 September as part of its mission to open communication lines about the challenges it faces and address employees’ concerns. 

A big concern was the $1.4 million in pensions payments that have not been paid, especially to employees who will be retiring soon. Pastor Ebanks also added that employees no longer need to be afraid to speak to the media about the various issues affecting them. 

Moreover he stressed the transparency under which the Board is now working and the need to address some of the major financial problems including pension payments, most of which had been addressed at a recent staff meeting. 

“The Board is committed to complying with the law and that includes making timely pension payments,” said Pastor Ebanks. 

“It was an open and frank meeting and I think the staff got a better understanding of the challenges we are facing that we are working on. The staff expressed a number of concerns and as a Board we tried to give fair and clear answers.

“We also encouraged people not to be afraid to speak to the press. We only ask that they remember their responsibilities to their job,” he said. 

Numerous long-term employees said the meeting was very hopeful and it was the first time in years they felt their concerns were being addressed. 

Several months ago, numerous employees told Cayman Net News about the nonpayment of pensions, but the questions to the previous HSA Board and top management were ignored. 

In addition, the Financial Secretary’s office did not provide any information regarding the late pension payments. Moreover, hospital employees were not allowed to speak to the press unless they were given expressed permission. 

In contrast, the new board of directors has approached the same issues in the public domain since it took over a few months ago.

The Deputy Financial Secretary has been appointed to the HSA Finance committee, has spoken openly about the problems and actions on HSA’s financial issues including the lack of financial statements and millions of dollars owed to suppliers.

The three-month contract for Cardiologist, Dr Stefan Ott was not renewed, which is coming to an end this month. His departure will leave patients with few options to be treated by a cardiologist. Dr Frank Pallares, a cardiologist of Chrissie Tomlinson Hospital will soon be able to see patients at the George Town Hospital when his hospital privileges are renewed by the Board.

However, Dr Pallares only sees patients on the Island about two weeks a month. 

Keith Myers, the Attorney General, Hon Samuel Bulgin and the Medical Director, Dr Tamer Tadros were unavailable for comment.

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