The health sector of Tobago received a shocker, when it was reported that front-runner for the post of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) Paula Chester Cumberbatch had landed a top position in the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Trinidad.

Cumberbatch, who had previously served as CEO of the Southwest Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) fell out of favour with former Minister of Health Therese Baptiste-Cornelius over her refusal to promptly follow the instructions of the Minister regarding the suspension of doctors and nurses in a medical negligence probe at the San Fernando General Hospital.

She was subsequently fired by the SWRHA Board. According to a Newsday report, which headlined the newspaper last Monday, Health Minister Fuad Khan on learning that the matter was heading for the courts for a legal battle, intervened and hammered out an agreement with the former CEO last month.

She was reportedly paid off and rehired by the MOH. Chester-Cumberbatch was reportedly the lone interviewee for the CEO post in Tobago following another recruitment drive by the TRHA.

The position was made vacant after George Bell, who was controversially hired by a previous board headed by Insurance Executive Keith Charles, resigned following several media reports about his lack of the required academic qualifications for the job.

The position was re-advertised in the local newspapers late last year, specifying at least two degrees up to the post-graduate Masters level in the area of Health and Business Management as the basic academic requirements for the top health post in the island.

It could have however been a case of déjà vu, when questions began to surface over the lack of transparency in the recruitment process by the current TRHA Board headed by retired Tobago Manager of the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) Jennifer Sampson-Brown.

Tobago News learnt that out of six applicants that came in for the CEO position, only two were shortlisted to be interviewed.

They were Chester-Cumberbatch and a yet-to-be identified International applicant. Sources told Tobago News that only Chester-Cumberbatch showed up for her interview, while the international applicant failed to show.

"Now that Chester-Cumberbatch has opted to accept another job in Trinidad, we have been literally left out in the cold with no second or third place applicant to fall back to," noted one health professional.

If the TRHA had interviewed all six applicants, then they could have fallen back on one of them. As it stands now, they would have to re-start the process and go back to the advertisement stage again," the source argued.

"We heard that another applicant was being considered but this isn't fair and that person has certain legal matters pending in a Trinidad Court," revealed the source.

Tobago News was told by another health source that staff morale was very low and the Acting CEO Paul Taylor was just simply overwhelmed in the position. Meanwhile, Tobago nurses, who had passed out since last year April are yet to be hired by the TRHA.

"We have a situation, where another batch of over twenty nurses has passed out last December, while we are here still waiting to be employed" lamented the graduate nurse.