ST. CROIX — At a press conference held at Government House this morning, Governor Kenneth Mapp announced two new cabinet members who he hopes will be ratified by the 31st Legislature to fill critical positions at two government agencies: The Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Property and Procurement (DPP).
The governor announced Phyllis L. Wallace as Commissioner-designee of DOH and Randolph L. Bennett as Commissioner-designee of DPP. In making the announcement, Mapp expressed his confidence in both candidates’ ability to perform their duties with the highest level of dignity.
After reading the Bennett’s biography, Mapp said part of the designee’s job will be to bring DPP’s operations in line with that of the federal procurement system. And secondly, “to assist us in driving full transparency of our procurement processes and contractual relationship between the Government of the Virgin Islands and the private sector,” Mapp said.
The governor also gave Bennett the task of assuring that every single government contract or purchase for service, or for professional service agreements between the Government of the Virgin Islands and the private sector, are published on DPP’s website. Bennett will also be responsible for cutting the government’s vehicle fleet in half, among other important duties, fulfilling a promise Mapp made at a previous press briefing.
In his remarks about Commissioner-designee Wallace, Mapp said he, along with Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter, have charged Wallace to “first and foremost lead our proposed reformation of the hospital systems in the Virgin Islands.”
The governor made known that his administration does not “subscribe to the process of having 160 plus beds in the territory managed by two CEOs that make approximately $800,000 combined, two CFOs, two COOs, two finance systems, to procurement systems, and two human resource divisions. That is a system designed for failure, and that’s why we’re floating bonds every year to assist the hospitals to stay afloat,” the governor said.
Mapp was adamant about changing the current system with Wallace at the helm of those efforts. She has also been tasked with developing a new process for hospital operations in the territory.
The governor then expressed frustration with the disjointed manner in which the territory’s hospitals, community clinics and private health providers operate in relation to data sharing. He called for a system where said data can be aggregated, “so that as a government, we are able to say with confidence what are the incidents of diabetes in the territory, and what are the demographics [including] age and gender. What are our issues with cancer in territory — age, gender, district.”
The governor also gave other examples of illnesses to drive home his point about the importance of the various institutions working together.”
To see both of the commissioner-designees’ biographies, click here.
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