King Edward VII Memorial Hospital will wait another year for the appointment of a Bermudian chief executive officer as Stephanie Reid has had her contract extended, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Mrs. Reid originally came to the Island in November 1999 on a three-year term intended to end with the ushering in of a fully trained Bermudian replacement.

But yesterday Bermuda Hospital Board (BHB) chairman Edward Saunders told The Royal Gazette the board has decided an extra year is required to ensure a smooth transition.

BHB has narrowed its search for a replacement to three candidates - Patrice Dill, Vanessa Simons and Kathy Lewis - Mr. Saunders said, but will not be making a final decision on awarding the post until February of next year.

"The successful candidate will then go abroad for a six-month stint of training during which time Mrs. Reid will be there to call on," Mr. Saunders said. The training will take place at a very large US hospital, Mr. Saunders added, although he would not divulge the name of the institution.

All three candidates are of extremely high quality, however, the BHB chairman said, and an easy selection is not expected.

"They are all Bermudians and have all worked in the hospital for some time," Mr. Saunders said. "They have had quite a bit of exposure across the board in the workings of the hospital."

In the three years that Mrs. Reid has been in place as CEO, the candidates have been undergoing cross training in a variety of disciplines, he added.

All three have also done shorter training periods with overseas medical institutes and have extensive management experience, he said.

Mrs. Reid, a Jamaican, came to KEMH from Cornwall Regional Hospitals in Montego Bay where she oversaw a 450-bed facility serving a population base in excess of 400,000.

Mr. Saunders said BHB has been very pleased with her performance in Bermuda and hopes the successful candidate will benefit from having Mrs. Reid in place for a few final months next year when they return from their US training stint.