Dear Editor,

In light of the recent and unfortunate loss of infant lives and subsequent calls for the axing of the Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson, I have only one question, where is the management, and in particular the chief executive officer (CEO), of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in all this?

To the best of my knowledge, the UHWI is a semi-private hospital, primarily a research and training institution, and as such the management of the hospital should be held accountable for the day-to-day operations of the facility. Yet, mysteriously they have remained very silent on the matter.

Dr Cecil White, CEO, and Dr Trevor McCartney, medical chief of staff, and their team are the ones with whom the buck stops in this case, and not Minister Ferguson. The silence of these individuals on the matter is unfortunately why the situation has become yet another scenario that has been revoltingly politicised by the nation’s media and cheap political pundits.

In this particular case, there would be absolutely no way for the minister to be fully aware of the daily operations of any of the affected hospitals, quasi-private or otherwise, as he simply is neither omniscient nor omnipresent.

It is also pertinent that the Jamaican people be briefed fully on this issue by the management and that we not allow ourselves to be politically polarised by this unfortunate issue.

Rebecca Stevens

rebssteves31@gmail.com