Bermuda Health Care Services medical director Ewart Brown (pictured) on Friday refused to be pulled into a debate on health care accreditation, saying the only people discussing the matter so far were not health care professionals.

Dr. Brown spoke after Bermuda Public Services Union general secretary Ed Ball, Jr. called on the Health Insurance Association of Bermuda (HIAB) and the Health Ministry to establish Island-wide health care standards through accreditation criteria for all private labs and private health care services.

Mr. Ball also stated the BPSU is becoming ?leery? of Bermudians who sit on health care or health service Boards and are using confidential information to start businesses in direct competition with the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB). He declined last week to name names.

However ZBM News quoted a source last week who said a ?senior Government official? had approached the BHB several years ago about a partnership to bring a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to the Island. When the BHB elected to bring in their MRI on their own, the Government official reportedly never raised the issue again.

Dr. Brown, who is also the Tourism and Transport Minister, recently announced the opening of a second MRI machine in Bermuda at Bermuda Health Care Services.

Saying there is no such thing as an ?accredited MRI?, Dr. Brown said: ?So far, statements are coming from people who do not have health care credentials, therefore I am not inclined to engage in the discussion.

?I will say that I listened carefully to what Ed Ball said. But I still didn?t understand.?