The Opposition’s spokeswoman for seniors Louise Jackson said there are more questions than answers in the wake of the resignation of hospital’s chief of staff.Dr Donald Thomas who was suspended in July, resigned from the top post at King Edward Memorial VII and has returned to the United States.His resignation was confirmed yesterday by a Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) spokeswoman who said: “The terms of Dr Thomas’ departure, are, by agreement, confidential,” and that no further comment will be made by the BHB.He held the post from June 8, 2008 to October 1 and has been on “administrative leave” since July 12. Victor Scott was named interim chief of staff in August.BHB Chairman Wendall Brown said: “Dr Scott will remain as interim chief of staff to continue the smooth transition.“All of us at BHB, from the board level through to clinical leaders, management and staff, remain committed to our planned organisation-wide clinical and corporate governance review. This review will identify our strengths and any organisational issues that need to be improved.”But One Bermuda Alliance MP Louise Jackson called on the BHB to provide answers to the “many questions surrounding the tenure and resignation of Dr Thomas”.“The BHB’s two-paragraph press statement announcing Dr Thomas’ resignation is simply not good enough. Its lack of transparency on this issue — aided and abetted by the Minister of Health — is exactly the kind of thing the Bermudian people have had enough of, particularly given that the controversy involves the management of millions of dollars of public money and the cost of people’s healthcare treatment,” said Ms Jackson.She called on both the Minister of Health, Zane DeSilva and the BHB to “stop hiding behind self-made agreements to keep matters of public concern confidential”. Ms Jackson also questioned why Dr Thomas “was hired in the first place given his questionable job history in California and licensing problems in Florida”.She also wants to know why the Minister “won’t release salary information as required by the Bermuda Hospitals Board Act”. “Was Dr Thomas on fully paid administrative leave since being suspended in July?“We understand that Dr Thomas has a major role in the creation and operation of Health Partners Limited (HPL),” said Ms Jackson who called on the Minister to “explain HPL’s $714,000 loss which was cited in the most recent BHB financial statements”.Further she asked: “What role did Dr Thomas have in redirecting patients away from many of the local healthcare diagnostic firms, as well as charities like the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre, and putting these small businesses and their employees at risk of business failure.“The hospital has been the largest single driver of escalating healthcare costs in Bermuda in the last two years, which has caused every Bermudian to pay more.“What role did Dr Thomas play in the sharp increase in salaries at the BHB and what role did he play in increasing specialist fees, some by 300 percent over the last several years?“These questions — and they are just the tip of the iceberg — cut to the heart of the need for greater accountability and transparency in the governance of Bermuda,” said Ms Jackson.“Until we get that, distrust and doubt will remain along with the potential for the public interest,” she said.Meanwhile, Bermuda Healthcare Advocacy Group spokesman Mark Selley said: “It’s no surprise or no more than we expected that the reasons for his resignation are confidential, that too is no surprise.”The group was scheduled to discuss the latest developments at their weekly meeting. In a statement released last night, a spokeswoman said the resignation was a “predictable outcome” that was “executed in accordance with past practices”.“The entire process leading up to his resignation appears by design to protect his professional character and the integrity of the hospital.” But she said: “The underlying circumstances surrounding this entire matter is suspect and Bermuda deserves the right to know what has taken place that is so confidential.“The most disturbing and frightening concern regarding BHB is that they operate under this arrogant mentality dismissing the need to divulge pertinent information that relates to accountability and transparency crucial to service and operations.“However, whenever it comes to the community support for funding they expect for the community to rally behind their efforts,” she said.“The BHB Clinical Leaders and Government select board representatives have done themselves and this community a great disservice as a result of the state of disrepair the hospital finds themselves in.“Unchallenged executive decisions concerning infrastructure expenditures and salaries has compromised patient outcomes and productivity.“Dr Thomas has left in his wake a slew of controversy as a result of poor management and personal influences. If Dr Thomas has conducted affairs out of character to BHB polices then he must be dealt with accordingly and in sync with coming practices,” she added.“BHAG once again feels that if BHB has noting to hide than they will submit to a commission of inquiry to to regain the confidence and respect from the community.”The call for an independent review was also echoed by the BHAG. The group formed earlier this year to push for better care at KEMH and wrote to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to complain about alleged inadequate care and call for Dr Thomas to be fired on July 11.It was told in a July 19 response that the matter had been passed by the FCO to the Ministry of Health.The patients’ group has set up a dedicated e-mail address for people wanting to share concerns about healthcare, BHB and the Island’s physicians. The address to write to is bhagvii@yahoo.com.