As part of the new team of administrators at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, attorney Amos W. Carty Jr. says he is focused on achieving the long-term plan of CEO Eugene Woods: making the hospital a first-class medical facility for everyone who walks through the door.
Carty recently left his legal counsel post at the Legislature. He said his agenda for the hospital is clear: decrease reliance on the territorial government and increase Medicaid reimbursement to the Virgin Islands.
"We want to develop a structure to make this hospital as self-sufficient as possible within the framework of the government of the V.I.," Carty said. "Health care is not a political issue."
Carty graduated from the American University Law School, Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., and returned home to practice. His career has included service as legal counsel for former Gov. Roy L. Schneider and chief counsel for the Legislature.
He said this experience puts him in a good position to understand the intricacies that tie health care and government together.
"I worked to draft the hospital's semi-autonomy legislation," said Carty, "and my existing rapport with a number of the government's policymakers will assist in moving the hospital's agenda forward."
Carty was a private contractor with the hospital before his official appointment as general counsel in November. Some of his ongoing projects include collective bargaining agreements, human resource work and hospital autonomy issues. A good portion of his time is spent negotiating contracts for hospital equipment, such as the recent acquisition of 15 new dialysis machines.
"Now, with semi-autonomy, the monies generated by the hospital remain in the hospital system," said Carty, "and we can already see the difference."
