June 10, 2009 — Gov. John deJongh, Jr. has nominated Julia Sheen to the position of Health Commissioner and has re-nominated Steven van Beverhoudt to a fourth term as the Virgin Islands Inspector General.
Sheen has been acting commissioner of health since February and prior to that, held the position of assistant health commissioner, a post she was appointed to in October 2007. Van Beverhoudt, the territory’s first inspector general, has served in the position since March 1989.
“Under his stewardship, Mr. van Beverhoudt has established a sound foundation for the Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General and brought integrity and credibility to its many audits over the years," deJongh said in a release from Government House on the nominations. "Without these audits, the government would not be able to begin to correct the deficiencies that the Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General has uncovered, which is a critical part of my commitment to transparency and efficiency in government.”
Van Beverhoudt has uncovered several major and many small instances of corruption and misuse of government funds during his tenure. He played a major role in the joint investigation with the Department of the Interior that uncovered massive misuse of funds at Schneider Regional Medical Center on St. Thomas (See: "Audit Claims Widespread Abuse of Schneider Hospital Funds.") and provided the raw information that led to the arrest, trial and conviction of former assistant to former Gov. Charles W. Turnbull for embezzling more than $1 million. (See: "Simmonds Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement, Faces 20 Years in Prison.")
A native of St. Thomas, van Beverhoudt graduated cum laude from the then College of the Virgin Islands with a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting. He began his government career as an Internal Revenue agent at the Bureau of Internal Revenue and later transferred to the then Bureau of Audit and Control as a supervisory auditor and was later promoted to audit manager. The Bureau of Audit and Control was the predecessor of the Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General.
Van Beverhoudt was nominated to be the first Virgin Islands Inspector General by the late Governor Alexander Farrelly and was re-nominated to subsequent terms by former Governors Roy L. Schneider and Charles W. Turnbull.
Van Beverhoudt is a certified fraud examiner and a certified government financial manager. He is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Association of Government Accountants, the Association of Inspectors General, the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Association of Pacific Islands Public Auditors.
Assuming he is confirmed, van Beverhoudt would serve a term of seven years beginning this month when his current term expires, according to Government House
Sheen is currently acting Health commissioner, replacing Commissioner Vivian I. Ebbesen-Fludd.
“Since being named assistant commissioner in 2007, acting Commissioner Sheen has addressed a number of issues in the Department of Health," deJongh said, including establishing policies and procedures for the utilization of federal funds, beginning the restructuring of the Certificate of Need program, developing a wellness program, leading a team of Health Department staff members to address outstanding compliance issues relative to the Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention Program and reestablishing the Citizens Advisory Council on Mental Health.
"These are pivotal issues for the Health Department at the present time and I believe that Julia Sheen will bring both her administrative and leadership skills to the position at a time when my administration is focused on a number of health care issues,” deJongh said.
Sheen holds a master’s degree in public health from Emory University and a Bachelor of Science degree in management from Morgan State University. Prior to joining government service in 2007, Sheen was president of JSA Consulting, which provided grant research, writing and consultation primarily to non-profit organizations and some government agencies. She also held the position of director of chronic disease prevention in the Department of Health from 1993-2004. She holds positions in professional and community service organizations including the Parent Council of St. Croix Country Day School, where she served as president from 2006-2008.
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