Consultants who produced a damning report into Bermuda’s hospitals are being drafted in as support for senior management.

American group Kurron was yesterday named as the firm which will help oversee key projects including the rebuilding of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

The company, which specialises in healthcare, was awarded the five-year contract by a selection panel after fighting off competition from two rivals.

Three years ago, a Kurron review highlighted a string of failings at Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB), including millions of wasted dollars and lapses threatening the safety of patients and staff. It highlighted the hospitals’ lack of effective leadership and recommended that former CEO Stephanie Reid be replaced.

Announcing Kurron’s appointment yesterday, Acting Health Minister Philip Perinchief said: “Maintaining and improving healthcare services for people in Bermuda over the long-term is vital to the well-being of our community.

“I’m very pleased to announce Kurron as the selected company. Kurron is renowned for assisting healthcare organisations as they seek to provide high quality patient care while operating a financially sound organisation.”

BHB CEO David Hill, to whom Kurron will report, said: “BHB works hard every day to provide quality care for patients in Bermuda.

“We are looking forward to the benefits that this transitional, interim expertise can bring to our operations as we plan our new hospital while providing quality, modern healthcare services in our current facilities.

“We are grateful for Government’s support, ensuring we can address our larger than normal agenda over the next five years.”

BHB chairman Herman Tucker said: “It is important that BHB has senior level support as we face a large agenda at the moment and it is critical to the long-term viability of our healthcare service that we advance in a timely manner.”

Shadow Health Secretary Louise Jackson last night attacked the selection, claiming Kurron was run by a close friend of Premier Ewart Brown.

“I don’t think anyone is surprised that Kurron got this contract. It’s a well-known fact that this company is run by one of Dr. Brown’s close American friends,” said Mrs. Jackson. “I and my colleagues are most disappointed because the Government continues to manage the people’s business, or I should say the people’s money, in ways that prompt more questions than answers.”

Late last year, former Opposition leader Grant Gibbons hit out at alleged connections between Kurron and Government, claiming the company donated at least $10,000 to the Tourism Helps Everybody Foundation, which was set up by Dr. Brown’s wife Wanda.

A Government press release yesterday stated Kurron was appointed following a “due diligence process” involving three highly renowned, experienced companies.

It continued: “A selection panel, comprising both Ministry of Health and Bermuda Hospitals Board representatives, made its selection following submissions of proposals and interviews.

“Companies were rated on their clinical, financial and administrative capabilities and experience. Cabinet selected Kurron on Tuesday, May 8.”

A request for information on the cost of hiring Kurron was not responded to by press time yesterday.

Mr. Hill has previously assured staff no redundancies were planned as part of the move.

In recent years, BHB and Government has called on a string of overseas teams to carry out healthcare reviews.

Government announced a formal partnership with Kurron in November last year, to ensure the recommendations from its 2003 review were being implemented.

Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, of Baltimore, is about half-way through a $200,000 three-month review of the Island’s healthcare needs ahead of the rebuilding of KEMH.

In 2005, American firm Cannon Design developed an estate master plan for the future of hospitals, concluding that KEMH and the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute were approaching the end of their natural lives.