UHWI Board Debated Race, Nationality and Age of Foreign CEO Pick Even as Problems Festered

SUBSCRIBER CONTENT

She was white, from Ireland, and over 65.

But in 2023, the board of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) felt Dorothy Hosein was the right choice to transform the beleaguered teaching hospital.

Despite her experience having done similarly for other troubled teaching health institutions in the U.K., her race, age and nationality became the focus at one of the UHWI board meetings. Board members discussed how to present and defend the appointment of an older, white Irish woman over a Jamaican candidate.

So, was the board appropriately considering political and cultural sensitivities or were the discussions merely a distraction from the effort to transform UHWI?

Board minutes and interviews by 18° North suggest that while directors focused on how the appointment would be perceived publicly, the greater obstacle to reform were key figures within and around the state-funded hospital.