Former BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA) Chief Executive Officer Ms Darlene A. Carty-Baptiste, will take up her new role as CEO of the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center effective Feb. 5, 2025. Photo: VINO/File

The Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center is located in St. Croix, USVI. Photo: Internet Source

Reports confirmed that Ms Carty-Baptiste, a former Commissioner of Health in the USVI, who has more than two decades of experience in medical and healthcare services, will lead the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center as Chief Executive Officer effective February 5, 2025.  The Hospital is located in St Croix.

Carty-Baptiste is in

After being approved as the permanent hospital CEO by the USVI Government Hospital & Health Facilities Corporation, or Territorial Hospital Board; Carty-Baptiste signed a three-year contract. The Territorial Hospital Board Human Resources Search Committee selected her from a pool of pre-approved candidates by the board.

In addition to her experience as USVI Health Commissioner, and CEO of the BVIHSA, Carty-Baptiste served as CEO of Anguilla Health Authority.

According to media reports, USVI Hospital Territorial Board Chairman Christopher E. Finch thanked Hazel M. Philbert, interim CEO, for “assuming the position and keeping the hospital operational during these challenging times as the board searched for a permanent leader.”

Was she on the table to return to BVIHSA?

A graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., Carty-Baptiste obtained a Master’s Degree in Education with a concentration in Guidance and Counseling from the University of the Virgin Islands. After she was appointed a USVI Health Commissioner in 2003, Carty-Baptiste completed the programme for Senior Managers in government at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University in Massachusetts, USA.

It is believed that Ms Carty-Baptiste was under consideration last year, to return to the post of CEO at the BVIHSA however, it never materialized.