Hugh Lawson Appointed Acting CEO of NHF

Minister of Health and Environment, Rudyard Spencer, yesterday (Oct. 27) announced that Vice President of Management and Information Systems, at the National Health Fund (NHF), Hugh Lawson, will act as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the agency until a new CEO is hired.
This follows the recent termination of the services of Rae Barrett as CEO of the Fund. The Minster also announced that a new Chairman will be named. In the interim Deputy Chairman, Daniel Dawes, will assume leadership of the Board.
The Minister made the announcement at a press briefing at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, to update the media on recent developments at the NHF.
He sought to clarify media reports of instability at the agency, assuring journalists that he had met with the executive team and the staff of the Fund, who have been cooperative with the changes.
“I am speaking with absolute clarity. There is no instability at the National Health Fund. The management and staff, especially the executive have been very professional in their approach and their attitude about the separation of these two persons who have served the organisation very well,” he said.
Mr. Spencer said that an oversight committee from the NHF Board has been put in place to work closely with the Acting CEO and his leadership team, until the new Chairman is installed. He said that a meeting involving Ministry officials, Mr. Lawson and Board Members, would have been held yesterday.
“We want to ensure that nothing will be left to chance at the National Health Fund. They are seized with all the imperatives, they have the experience, they have the competence and we are building that team that will take the NHF forward, out of what now exists at the National Health Fund. I am sure that along with this Board, the best days of the NHF are ahead of us,” he added.
Minister Spencer commended the Board for its unrelenting commitment to accountability and transparency, and matters relating to conflicts of interest and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to providing good governance for the people of Jamaica. “If there is anything that is fundamentally wrong that would breach that principle of good governance, we have the responsibility to ensure that it is corrected,” he informed.