Dyma Williams, Current Acting JFL CEO, Not Among Final Candidates for Permanent Chief Executive Position

ST. CROIX — Dyma Williams, who was appointed acting CEO of the Juan F. Luis Hospital in Sept. 2018 following the swift removal of then-CEO Wanda Reuben and chief financial officer at the time Deepak Bansal, was not among the final candidates for the permanent chief executive officer position, according to two people with intimate knowledge of the matter.

The selections were made by the hospital's board of directors. The board has already informed Ms. Williams of the outcome, and she is expected to be replaced soon, said one of the people, who spoke to the Consortium on the condition of anonymity. JFL chief legal counsel Chivonne Thomas, who also serves as the hospital's public relations officer, said she could not comment on the matter.

Ms. Williams took the helm at the hospital after the turbulent tenure of Ms. Reuben approximately one year to date since the devastating hurricanes of 2017. She has led the medical facility through some of its most difficult adversities, all while working to transition operations from the current building to modular units called JFL North.

Even so, the hospital continues to struggle with operations, with residents routinely lambasting the facility as low quality, many contending they would rather fly to the mainland for health care. Others have spoken of the prolonged wait times at the emergency room, and protracted wait for procedures such as surgeries — a problem compounded by the hospital's financial constraints.

JFL North, which was supposed to be in operation, is now projected to come online in 2022 — five years after Hurricane Maria. During a February hearing, JFL officials, including Ms. Williams, told senators that the hospital needed an immediate infusion of cash if it were to continue making payroll. A big reason for the drop in revenue was JFL North's delayed opening which was causing an exodus of patients to the mainland and other destinations for healthcare, hospital officials said.

JFL North's delay appeared to be a lapse in judgement by the current leadership. The delay occurred because a structure that houses oxygen for JFL North, which it cannot operate without, to this day has not been built. Asked about this matter, Ms. Williams said the oxygen facility was always part of the plan, but it was part of plan B, not plan A.

Plan A, she said, was to connect JFL North to the current hospital's oxygen system, a decision she said was made to hasten the process of opening. But the plan backfired.

"We had a first phase approach where the medical gases were supposed to be piped in from our current system," Ms. Williams said during an interview in April. However, the hospital brought in a company to evaluate the feasibility of using the current system, and "they determined that it would not in fact be safe to hook up JFL North, the new hospital, to the existing medical gas system," Ms. Williams said.

She added, "We had always anticipated phase B, which would have been the buildout of the oxygen generator, the construction, the connections the utilities, the trenching." Ms. Williams described the buildout as a "very technically complex build, so it takes time."