Mitchell demitting office as NHF chair

Christopher Serju, Senior Gleaner Writer

There is uncertainty as to who will succeed businessman and attorney-at-law Howard Mitchell as chairman of the National Health Fund (NHF) when he demits office today.

In confirming his break with the organisation after one year, Mitchel said his personal and professional businesses suffered during his time at the NHF, a situation he would be seeking to remedy.

“Yes, that is correct, I’m leaving tomorrow [today] because last year I gave a commitment for one year [and] the year is up. I have a lot of obligations, personal obligations, and I can’t ignore them anymore. So I have to pay attention to them, that’s basically it,” Mitchell told The Gleaner.

The businessman said he wrote to Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, at the beginning of his tenure declaring that the engagement would be for one year only.

On the question of his successor, Mitchell directed the newspaper to Tufton but indicated that it was his understanding that as deputy chairman of the NHF, Shane Dalling, who is also chief executive officer of the Firearm Licensing Authority, would take his place.

However, when contacted, Dalling expressed surprise at this revelation, telling The Gleaner, “There is nothing I can say on the record.”

Meanwhile, Mitchell said a high point of his tenure was interacting with the management and staff of the NHF, describing them as of “sterling quality” and the best that he had seen in both the private and public sectors.

“Another high point was managing to scrap through and get Jamaica vaccines because for a while there it was touch and go but by the grace of God we were fortunate and it was team work and the help of many people why we have vaccine.”

The low point for Mitchell was what he called the systemic incompetency of the public sector in general, characterised by territorialism and the lack of team work generally in the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

“Just the difficulty of getting through the bureaucracy, that would be my low,” he explained.

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