BERMUDA Hospitals Board chairman Jonathan Brewin yesterday assured hospital staff that any efficiency measures put forward by American health consultants Kurron would have to be considered by the BHB before they were implemented.

Some staff at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and St. Brendan's Hospital have been concerned for their jobs since Kurron started its review of the hopsital.

The Mid-Ocean News revealed two weeks ago that Kurron had a reputation for improving the financial situation of struggling hospitals - but for cutting jobs and services in the process.

And Mr. Brewin stressed that Kurron, a management as well as a consultancy firm, was not running the hospital. That contradicted what Health Minister Nelson Bascome was quoted by The Royal Gazette as saying in the House of Assembly two weeks ago, that Kurron was running the two hospitals for a month.

"Kurron are undertaking a full review of services, operationally and financially," said Mr. Brewin.

"Their recommendations are expected back in the form a report which will be be submitted to the Minister of Health.

"Any recommendations will then be submitted to the Hospitals Board for consideration and possibly implementation. The only reassurance I can give to the staff at this time is that recommendations that come back from Kurron's review will be considered by the board. It is too early to say what those recommendations are likely to be."

Asked whether Kurron was managing the hospitals, Mr. Brewin said: "That is definitely not the case."

We reported two weeks ago how Kurron had cut 258 jobs within a month of moving in to manage New York-based Episcopal Health Services four years ago.

Bermuda Public Services Union leader Ed Ball said yesterday that staff, many of whom had researched Kurron's track record on the Internet, were still concerned about their futures.

"I know the staff still have some issues with Kurron," said Mr. Ball. "I have spoken with Mr. Brewin and he is well aware of the concerns of the staff and I believe he wants to see stability at the hospitals."

Mr. Ball said he had been led to believe that Kurron had intended to interview some staff as part of their review.

"I don't think any interviews have been conducted yet," he said. "Kurron have not approached me about it."

We made no attempt to contact Mr. Bascome, as he once publicly stated that he did not speak to the Mid-Ocean News and has persistently refused to answer our calls since last March, when this newspaper exposed inexplicably large payments to contractors by the Bermuda Housing Corporation, which was then part of his ministerial responsibility.

In Parliament earlier this month, Mr. Bascome said Kurron was not merely advising the Hospitals Board on where to make changes, it was actually coming to run the hospitals for a month to carry out a review to see first hand where the problems lay.

After the debate, he said: "They come in and they manage your hospital. They look at all the deficiencies that your organisation may have.

"As far as I'm concerned, they are much more than just consultants. We want Kurron to say where the changes need to be made, and then those directions can be given to the new CEO."

At the end of last year, it was announced that current CEO Stephanie Reid would be staying on for an extra year on top of her three-year contract while a Bermudian was trained to take over her post.

Mr. Ball has suggested that the uncertainty over the identity of the new CEO needs to be ended.

Mr. Brewin said: "The issue of the new CEO will be discussed by the first meeting of the new Hospitals Board next week."