Chief Executive Officer of the Georgetown Public Medical Hospital is in the middle of a firestorm according to reports out of the Kaeiteur News of Guyana.
The incident regarding Khan followed weeks after the Director of Financial Services and a Clerk of the hospital were sent on leave to facilitate a probe into the disappearance of over $4M at the facility.
However, according to the news reports, Minister Bheri Ramsaran is on a campaign to dismiss hospital of staff members with whom he has some issue, including the Chief Executive Officer Michael Khan. The Minister said, “The decision was not the decision of a single person, it was a Board decision; so myself and my Chief Medical Officer, who is also on the Board, will be checking exactly what is the position, and about the sustainability of operations.”
According to reports made by Kaeiteur News, information emanating out of the Georgetown Public Hospital suggest that Michael Khan was sent home by the Minister by way of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nirmal Rekha. The decision was later reversed by the Minister of the Public Service, Dr. Jennifer Watson who is acting in the post of Minister with responsibility for the Hospital.
According to the public service laws that govern Guyana, in order to send home Khan on administrative leave, cause would have to be found and no organization can send anyone on vacation leave, said Kaeiteur News.
Rekha has suggested (in news reports) that an enquiry is underway regarding fraud and that Khan failed to notify the Board. However, later investigations revealed that Khan was not even on duty at the time of the alleged “fraud”. The individual who was acting in Khan’s post was not subject to any disciplinary action on the alleged “fraud” at the hospital, it was later revealed.
According to reports while Khan awaits word, sources close to the hospital have suggested that since Bheri Ramsarran has taken up his post, over 145 medical and other staffs has walked off the job.
According to reports Khan said that he had received a letter from the Chairman of the Board of Directors, last Friday instructing him to proceed on his annual leave with immediate effect. Director of Medical Services Dr. Sheik Amir will act as the CEO in his absence.
The Minister of Health has acknowledged that Khan has been sent on administrative but did not say why this was so. He also indicated that the Board of the Hospital should have an “arm’s length” approach to working with the Hospital. (source – Kaiteur News, Guyana).
