Five Bermudians have been promoted to senior positions at Bermuda Hospitals Board as part of an initiative to get the best out of local talent.

Health Minister Walter Roban said a succession management programme is designed to eventually fill King Edward VII Memorial Hospital's top posts with Bermudians.

Currently, the CEO and chief of staff, David Hill and Donald Thomas, are British and American respectively, while the next chief operating officer will also be foreign because no Bermudians applied for the position made vacant by the departure of Robert Zinnen.

The Minister said so far the programme has seen the promotion of Bermudians: Scott Pearman to chief business development officer; Judy Richardson to chief nursing officer; Preston Swan to vice president of quality and risk; Lynette Raynor to director of critical care; and Michael Albouy to director of information technology services.

Mr. Roban was speaking in response to parliamentary questions tabled by Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson, who asked what was the succession plan to the top three positions at the hospital.

"In 2009, BHB launched a formal succession management programme for employees who are Bermudians or have Bermudian status," stated the Minister.

"It is a disciplined business process to evaluate and identify individuals who have the potential to be successful in higher level positions, including the CEO, COO and COS positions."

Mr. Roban said 78 managers and physicians have so far gone through the scheme, which is running in conjunction with international group DDI, "a world-renowned leader in succession planning"; more are set to take part.

"Once assessed, they will be reviewed for their future leadership potential, and could be seen as a potential successor for a number of leadership positions," he said.

"Their assessments will help identify training, development and experience requirements to prepare them to succeed at the next level."

All potential successors for senior roles will attend a course on leadership skills, he said.