“WRONGFUL dismissal”, “Khan must go”, and “Nursing in Crisis” were among slogans written and voiced by nurses who protested for two consecutive days after Matron Colleen Hicks was dismissed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Khan, of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Wednesday. 

The nurses protested in front of the administrative office of the hospital on New Market Street on Wednesday and yesterday during their lunch break. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision made by Khan for dismissing the matron while calling for him to resign.

Senior Departmental Supervisor, Keith Alonzo who coordinated the protest, said after Hicks’ letter of termination reached him on Wednesday morning, he immediately mobilised the nurses from all departments of the hospital to take action.
When approached by this publication on Wednesday, the nurses said the matron is well respected, for she would always tend to their needs, and has a good personality.
When asked the reason for the Hicks’ termination, Khan said that Hicks had been on probation, and was terminated “for gross insubordination.”
Alonzo, on the other hand, said the termination letter did not give a reason for the matron’s dismissal, and was very brief.
“There was no reason stated in the letter; Matron Hicks was never insubordinate but rather assertive, and would always perform her duties diligently,” said a surprised Alonzo when questioned about the letter.
Khan said letters were previously sent to Hicks and she had been unwilling to comply with directives in those letters. As such, another letter was sent to the former matron on Wednesday morning to further notify her of her termination, which she still is unwilling to accept and refuses to leave her office, stated Khan when contacted yesterday.
In this regard, Khan said he is currently seeking advice from both his Lawyer and Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton. He further stated that Hicks is to be replaced by an Assistant Director (Matron) once she is not “reinstated.”

Meanwhile, the nurses slogans also targetted Dr. Zulfikar Bux, Head of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) services at the Georgetown Public Hospital, saying that he is “incompetent” and needs to resign along with Khan.
In addressing this, Khan said, “Dr. Bux is a hard-working doctor, and has always striven for the betterment of the hospital. These are all false allegations.”
Among the mentioned slogans hurled at Khan, were “we need an audit” and “where are the Christmas party monies?”
This newspaper understands that Khan did not host a Christmas party last year for the nurses since there was not adequate money. As such, the nurses are alleging that Khan stole the monies that were allocated for the party.
When asked about this, Khan confidently said: “I am no thief! I have never stolen anything from this hospital. We never had the party because we didn’t have the money, but the money is in the finance department. They [nurses] want to scourge my name? Let them check with the finance department!”
Many are of a view that given the circumstances at the hospital, patients are not being fully attended to. When asked, the nurses said that they are using their lunch hours to protest which will not impact the patients in any way and have vowed to continue protesting until the former matron is reinstated.