After stepping down from his role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Millennium Heights Medical Complex (MHMC), Dr. Dexter James has finally addressed the issue, stating that he’d left for personal reasons.
In a DBS Television interview this week, Dr. James said he submitted his resignation to the Board of Directors at the MHMC on August 2nd, indicating that he would not continue.
“At no point was there any discussion on the renewal of my contract. I want to emphasise that my decision to resign was made independently,” he said.
The former CEO believes he left the MHMC in a better state than it was two years ago and that if his successor “comes on with good leadership… I think the Complex can move towards greater improvement in care to the public.”
Dr. James’ resignation drew widespread attention, especially with the Board of the MHMC facing heavy criticism before his departure.
In a letter dated July 31, Dr. Merle Clarke, the President of the St. Lucia Medical and Dental Association (SLMDA), stated that the consensus of the physician body “is that the board of directors, ostensibly tasked with drafting policy to allow for the efficient running of the hospital, has failed miserably.”
“The problems are truly too numerous to quantify,” Dr. Clarke said in her letter.
Dr. James (in the interview) said his departure was not connected with that situation.
“The issues that have come to the media that appear (to be) almost negative goodwill for the facility was quite unfortunate because we had just begun working with the Ministry of Health and the Board in getting additional resources to address some of the problems that we’ve had, mainly due to the question of unavailability of drugs and supplies,” he said, adding that “we had restored goodwill with a number of creditors, they had opened accounts (back) for us … so the platform was set for the future development of the hospital.”
Prime Minister Philip J Pierre, at this week’s pre-Cabinet press briefing, stated that he “heard some doctors resigned” and although it’s not a situation he’s happy about, “people always leave to look for greener pastures.”
“That’s nothing new, doctors resign and come in all the time. We’re pretending as (if) these things never happened before in Saint Lucia’s history,” Pierre told reporters.
Dr. James was appointed to the position at the MHMC towards the end of 2022, bringing in years of experience with him.
According to a press release, the formative years of Dr. James’ career were spent in a senior management role in the field of commercial and development banking until his subsequent move into the health sector in 1995.
For almost 30 years, the medical professional was at the forefront of public sector management and transformation, leading health reforms and health systems development as a policy maker and practitioner in the Caribbean.
Dr. James also provided advisory support on public health policy and reforms to regional governments and was engaged as an expert and technical resource by regional agencies such as PAHO/WHO and international organizations such as Accreditation Canada International.
In May 2018, he was appointed as “Professor of Practice” in Public Policy and Healthcare Administration by the University of the West Indies, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Cave Hill, in recognition of his leadership role in health reforms and sterling contribution to healthcare practice in the region.
Dr. James also received an international award from the Emerald Group Publishing Limited for Outstanding Doctoral Research in the Management and Governance category.