Editorial for 25 January: Another med chief leaves

Things have been looking up for the Health Services
Authority of the Cayman Islands recently.

For the first time in its 10-year-tenure the HSA turned a
profit and has slowly become more economically viable.

The positive moves have come under the leadership of Dr.
Greg Hoeksema,the former navy doctor who has been medical director of HSA since
late 2007.

His mission when he came to the Cayman Islands was to help
improve the whole country’s health system.

So far he’s done well.

That’s why we are surprised to learn that his contract,
which expires on the last day of this month, isn’t being renewed.

According to a press release from HSA, the good doctor and
HSA came to a ‘mutual decision that his contract…will not be renewed.’

That’s a shame.

Part of the problem at HSA has been the prevalent attitude
of senior civil servants who won’t lead, follow or get out of the way; they
continue to be an albatross around the neck of the entire system.

Some of that dead wood has been whittled away under
Hoeksema’s regime, mostly through attrition, but the undercurrent of department
leaders refusing to cooperate with medical directors – no matter who is sitting
in the seat – continues.

While we applaud the caregivers at HSA, we have to question
why the board continues to allow a prevalence of uncooperative staff members in
some ranks of the administration. Hoeksema did some great things while he was
in the Cayman Islands. We don’t know what his immediate plans are for the
future.

We do know that whoever is picked to take over his role has
some big shoes to fill and a mandate to continue to streamline the HSA, keep it
a profit-making organisation and work diligently to get rid of the deadwood
keeping that authority behind.

The board has to give the next medical director the freedom
to run the HSA as a profit-making business, not one where cronyism is allowed
and encouraged.

Good luck Mr. Hoeksema. Your efforts are appreciated.