Records back Chai Chong

FORMER chairman of the board of management at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) Wayne Chai Chong’s credibility received a significant boost on Tuesday after newly submitted documents appeared to corroborate key aspects of his account of the hospital’s controversial chief executive officer (CEO) recruitment process.

The records, presented to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), painted a far different picture from the one that emerged just two weeks earlier when members were told that officials could find little documentation relating to the recruitment exercise beyond two brief paragraphs contained in board minutes from July 2023.

Instead, the latest documents revealed a lengthy and structured recruitment process involving an external consultant, detailed discussions by the board and its human resource and customer service subcommittee, a round-robin vote by directors, and majority support for moving ahead with contract negotiations with a selected candidate.

When Chai Chong appeared before the committee in May, he maintained that the board had conducted a thorough recruitment process before identifying a preferred candidate for the post of CEO.

His account later came under scrutiny after acting CEO Eric Hosin told the PAC on June 2 that officials had been unable to locate records showing that the board approved, rejected, or overturned the appointment of a candidate. At the time, lawmakers expressed concern over the apparent absence of documentation and questioned how such an important process could have generated so little paper trail.

Tuesday’s disclosure altered that narrative.

Reading a summary prepared by Parliament’s research department into the record, PAC Chairman Julian Robinson outlined a series of documents that had since been located, including correspondence, board records, and a report prepared by external recruitment consultant Great People Solutions.

According to the summary, the UHWI board had tasked its human resource and customer service Subcommittee with recruiting a new CEO following a decision taken on December 14, 2022. The board subsequently engaged Great People Solutions to conduct the recruitment exercise and provide recommendations.

The documents showed that by August 2023 a preferred candidate had been identified and directors were asked to ratify the recommendation through a round-robin vote so contract negotiations could begin. The records also revealed that board members expressed support for proceeding with the appointment process and that concerns raised about timing and scrutiny of the exercise were discussed and addressed.

“The chairman further indicated that the human resource subcommittee had sought to ensure that the recruitment process complied with government protocols, was adequately documented, and could withstand both external audit review and broader scrutiny,” Robinson read from the summary.

The documents also detailed recommendations from Great People Solutions that extended beyond the recruitment exercise itself. Among them were proposals to address what the consultant described as a culture of non-compliance within the organisation, to redesign the CEO’s job description, reduce the span of control attached to the role and support a more market-driven compensation structure.

After reviewing the newly submitted records, Opposition Member of Parliament representing Manchester Southern Peter Bunting said they presented an entirely different picture from the impression left at the committee’s previous meeting.

“A quick scan of it paints a completely different picture from what we were led to believe at the last meeting, like the chairman was on a frolic of his own, and that what he had presented to the committee meeting before was not accurate,” Bunting said.

He also questioned how so many records could have been overlooked when officials were first asked to search for documents related to the recruitment exercise.

Robinson expressed similar sentiments, noting that the newly located material appeared consistent with the account previously given by Chai Chong. He ultimately concluded that the documents left little room for doubt.

“There’s no question that a detailed process was followed by the board at the time in dealing with the recruitment of a then CEO of the institution. I think it is important for the record of the meeting — and certainly I know for the former chairman — that this be placed on the record so that there is no question about the accuracy of his representation to the committee when he was here. I think this fully supports his testimony here before the committee,” Robinson said.