00:00Ronald Anthony Soyafat, the man who had been at the helm of the Eastern Regional Health
00:04Authority since 2017, passed away on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
00:10He had worked at the ERHA in the early 2000s, during which time the RHA maintained the Health
00:16Sector Agency of the Year for four years, spanning 2005 to 2009, and he received the
00:23Ministry of Health's Director Award for Quality Leadership in 2008.
00:29Soyafat then headed the North Central Regional Health Authority, but returned to the ERHA.
00:35Prior to his work in the health sector, he lectured part-time at the Institute of Business
00:40of the University of the West Indies, which is now Arthur Logjak's School of Business.
00:45Speaking on the passing of the late CEO, Minister of Health Terence D. Alsing says Soyafat was
00:52a major figure in the development of the health sector.
00:56His experience and leadership spanned decades across both islands.
01:01I was personally grateful that he lived to see the fulfillment of his dream
01:05of the Sangu Grandi Hospital Campus project, which was recently completed.
01:11We who work in the health sector will miss his leadership, compassion and presence.
01:17Former Chairman of the Sangu Grandi Regional Corporation Anil Juttaram is also paying
01:21tribute to Soyafat, noting how he began formulating and eventually spearheaded
01:27plans to treat with the COVID-19 pandemic under his RHA in February 2020 before the
01:33first case was reported in the country.
01:36Mr. Soyafat took on the responsibility as a par-excellent CEO in terms of he was very dynamic
01:43and he looked at things in a more or less corporate aspect of handling government
01:50issues and he was very proactive in terms of pioneering and leading the charge.
01:55Juttaram says this included designating a part of the Sangu Grandi Hospital to
02:00treating with COVID-19 patients and pushing the signage campaigns on COVID-19 measures.
02:06Juttaram is also praising him for the Sangu Grandi Enhanced Centre, which he states is top-notch
02:12based on the reviews that he has received.
02:15Asked whether there was any incident that stood out to him on a personal level,
02:19Juttaram points to a time Soyafat called him over the phone during a period of drought in
02:24that part of the region and begged for water for a patient at the Sangu Grandi Hospital
02:30who was waiting to undergo surgery.
02:32Normally people would not care about a poor patient, people in that caliber would say,
02:38that's just one of the patients, what do they have to get to do that? But he didn't even know
02:43that person but he was concerned that there was a report that there was no water in the
02:48operating theatre and he reached out to me as chairman of the corporation to assist and we did
02:53assist.
02:54And former health minister under the People's Partnership Administration,
02:57Therese Batiste Cornelis, has taken to Facebook to pay tribute, writing,
03:02Just heard earlier today that Ronald Soyafat passed away last night.
03:07He was really a great and honorable guy. He will be missed.
03:11Condolences to his wife and the rest of his family.
03:16TV6 News understands that Soyafat had been diagnosed with cancer years ago.
03:21However, we are unable at this time to confirm the cause of death.
03:25Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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