PREMIER Ewart Brown (pictured above)<\p>plans to expand his private medical practice by opening up a second health facility — after ordering a Government-funded clinic for the poor to shut down.In November, Government announced that the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital's Medical Clinic — which provides free treatment to the poor and is funded by the taxpayer — will shut down later this year, claiming that the facility undermines the dignity of patients. Instead, the sick and the poor will be forced to get treatment from private practices.

But critics claim that independent physicians are already overwhelmed with patients and will not be able to cope with any increase in demand.

The Mid-Ocean News can reveal that, just days before announcing the shock closure, Dr. Brown submitted a proposal to the Planning Department to convert Winterhaven, an historic building on South Shore, from a residential property into a healthcare facility. Dr. Brown's company, Bermuda Healthcare, currently operates another clinic in Paget.

The plan was resubmitted in December after Planning officials expressed "concerns as to how the building will be perceived and ultimately how it will be compatible with the nature and character of the surrounding area".

It was subsequently approved by the Development Applications Board on December 20, just days after being resubmitted. Typically, applications take nearly four months to be processed by the DAB.

A campaign to fight the closure was launched last month and a petition calling for the centre to remain open is now being circulated.

Medical Clinic patients told this newspaper that Dr. Brown appeared to have made his decision without consulting the centre's stakeholders — its staff and patients.

They also ridiculed claims that they will receive better care from the private sector and suggested that the Premier was inventing problems as part of a personal vendetta against the clinic and the hospital.

"I think there's something wrong with Dr. Brown — he can't be the one deciding on people's personal issues and that's the problem here," one patient said.

Yesterday, Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson, who was not involved in creating the petition but does endorse it, said the protest was gathering momentum.