…for alleged scandalous remarks against nurses
By Naomi Marshall
The Regional Chairman of Region 10, Upper Demerara/ Berbice, Deron Adams and other doggicials are calling for the removal of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC), Rudolph Small for allegedly insulting nurses.
This call was made following comments made by Small about the nurses employed at LHC in an interview done with a blogger on the electronic timekeeping system that will soon replace the manual timekeeping scheme at the said hospital.
According to the article done by the blogger, Small stated that the “introduction of the electronic system is to help clamp down on egregious practices among LHC nurses who sign in for work abandon their posts by leaving clandestinely for late night trysts.”
The article also alleged that the CEO went on to say, “I intend to put a stop to this. We have some nurses who are accustomed to reporting for duty at nights…they sign in then they get away (and) go and sleep with their sweet man…(and) would come back in and sign out in the morning.”
The Regional Vice Chairman of Region 10, Douglas Gittens told Village Voice GY that the comments made by the CEO was disrespectful to the nurses who are frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mr. Rudolph Small was very disrespectful to women across the Region first of all and he was blatantly disrespectful to the nurses, doctors and all other workers of the LHC,” Gittens noted.
On Friday, Gittens along with the Regional Chairman, Deron Adams and Councilors of the RDC consulted with employees of the LHC on the accusations made by Small, and also protested for the resignation of Small from his current position at the hospital.
Gittens told Village Voice GY that most of the employees of the LHC are exasperated and shock at the allegations made by Small.
“The workers of the hospital said that they do not mind the electronic timekeeping system, however, it was the way that he presented it to the community, saying that people would go by their ‘sweetman’ and such that is unacceptable. This is what irritated almost everyone in the hospital from nurses, doctors, the cleaning staff and the laboratory staff,” the Vice Chairman said.
In a press release, Small stated that at no time in the formal interview he did with the blogger, did he attribute the need for an electronic timekeeping system to be related to “the rumored behavior of nurses or any other staff.”
However, in the press release Small admitted that he made the comments off the record during a casual conversation with the blogger after the interview.
“At the end of the interview, off the record, the reporter and I engaged in casual banter. During that off-record conversation, certain popular rumors relating to the issue of disappearing staff members were highlighted. Those rumors have nothing to do with the introduction of a timekeeping system at the hospital. These rumors relating to behavior of nursing staff have been part of the folklore in this community long before my arrival as the CEO of the Linden Hospital Complex.”
Meanwhile, Gittens told Village Voice GY that the CEO was sent a letter by the Regional Chairman, Deron Adams requesting his resignation from the CEO position of LHC.
“We are fed up of Mr. Small’s movements. He does not consult with anybody before making certain changes in the Hospital and it is infuriating the people of the hospital. So we have made it clear to him through a letter that we do not want anything to do with him anymore, that he is a difficult person to work with and we need a change,” Gittens added.
In January 2021, Small made the decision to not renew the St John’s Ambulance Brigade contract with LHC, leaving 20 persons unemployed.
