Sept. 18, 2008 — The nominations of five people recently tapped by the governor to fill open slots on the V.I. Hospitals and Health Facilities Corp. St. Thomas-St. John District Board sailed through Thursday's full session with only a few words of caution from senators.
"The eyes of the people of the Virgin Islands are going to be on these nominees, and sadly so, because of what's been going on at the hospital over the past few months," said Sen. Juan Figueroa-Serville.
Throughout the morning, other senators echoed these sentiments, saying that the nominees are the key to restoring "hope" in the leadership at Schneider Regional Medical Center, whose board members and top executives have come under heavy public scrutiny ever since the release of a scathing joint federal and local audit.
After the report was released this summer, Gov. John deJongh Jr. called for the resignation of five of SRMC's board members: June Adams, Beverly Chongasing, Francis Jackson, Natalie Thomas and Doradean Williams, all of whom were sitting on the board during the time covered in the audit.
During Thursday's session, senators unanimously confirmed attorney Maria Tankenson Hodge, Judith McDonald-Richardson, Miles Stair, Vincent Samuel and Cornell Williams to the positions and asked them to work hard to "safeguard against" future corruption and be responsible for getting the medical center onto a more solid — and transparent — financial footing.
Nominations for Hodge and Stair to serve on the Hospitals and Health Facilities Corp.'s territorial board were also approved Thursday.
The audit, a joint effort by the offices of the inspectors general of the Department of the Interior and the Virgin Islands, revealed that execs Rodney E. Miller Sr., Amos Carty Jr., and Peter Najawicz received hefty compensation packages approved by board members. At the end of his five years at the helm of the hospital, Miller had allegedly racked up close to $3.8 million in salary and associated perks, while Carty and Najawicz were receiving thousands more than the $80,000 salaries included in their notices of personnel action — documents that show, among other things, what government employees were paid.
The hospital's board approved the packages, the report said, and deliberately withheld documents and other information from investigators while the audit was going on. Miller is now facing a fraud charge in V.I. Superior Court. Carty and Najawicz were fired from their posts.
Senators also approved on Thursday the nominations of:
— Valdemar A. Hill Jr. to the V.I. Hospitals and Health Facilities Corp. St. Croix District Board;
— Adlyn P. Williams to the V.I. Board of Vocational Education; and
— Robert O'Connor Jr. to the V.I. Port Authority Governing Board.
All senators were present during Thursday's session.
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