The original article can be found in: Virgin Islands Daily News
ST. CROIX – On Friday, the Luis Hospital board officially lost its quorum and became unable to conduct business, as former chairwoman Kye Walker’s resignation took effect.
The official loss of a quorum slipped by, quietly punctuating two weeks of drama and controversy at the hospital that included the resignation of interim chief executive officer Dr. Kendall Griffith; the intervention of senators, who planned to call a special session to deal with Luis Hospital’s issues; the board’s reinstatement of Griffith; Walker’s resignation as board chair and her later resignation from the board.
Ultimately, lawmakers cancelled their special session after Walker and board member Imelda Dizon resigned on Tuesday. Dizon’s resignation is effective Aug. 31; Walker’s was effective Friday.
Without Walker, the Luis board can no longer muster a quorum of five members, the minimum number of board members needed to conduct business. For some time, the nine-seat board had four empty seats and only five members, but Walker’s resignation bumped the number of members down to four.
Government House has indicated in press releases that the territorial hospital board – which meets infrequently and is now dominated by members from the St. Thomas-St. John District – will step up to take a more active role overseeing operations at Luis for now.
Government House spokesman Jean Greaux Jr. said Friday that Gov. John deJongh Jr. had not made any nominations to the Luis Hospital board at that point.
Sen. Alicia Hansen said she had submitted 25 potential nominees to deJongh’s office Thursday. The list includes a cross-section of the community, people in different walks of life.
Greaux said that in a meeting about the Luis Hospital situation with at least 12 senators a week ago, the governor had asked them to submit names of residents who would be willing to serve on the hospital board.
Greaux said he did not know on Friday how many senators had done so.
“But I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of senators had put forward nominations,” Greaux said. “Everything is under review.”
In a press release last week, Government House said that the biggest obstacle to filling vacancies on the Luis Hospital board – and other critical government boards – is convincing people to commit the time and effort required to serve.
