While deliberating over the demise of the ROM, it occurred to me to put my name forward for election to the Board. On reviewing the application procedure, I discovered that former ROM employees were ineligible. Does it make any sense for people with first--hand experience of working at the museum to be excluded from the Board? Would it make sense to exclude medical staff from hospital boards?
Checking our local Southlake Hospital, I found that the thirteen people listed under the heading of Board of Directors are all non-medical, with extensive experience in business and administration. These are followed by five people listed under the heading of Non--Director, who are Southlake staff members. Three are doctors, one is a nurse, and one is an administrator.
Toronto’s Sick Kids hospital has a considerably larger board of 35 members, primarily business people, along with two lawyers and two involved with charity work. Notably, there is one doctor who works at the hospital, and a second doctor who works elsewhere.
It would appear from this small sampling that having businessmen and businesswomen in predominance on governing boards of hospitals is the norm. This makes as little sense to me as it would to have a predominance of medical staff on the board of a business company.
As revealed in the publication by Fred Naggs, London’s Natural History Museum was destined for disaster when it came under the authority of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. The ROM is under control of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Hopefully, this ministry will enable the ROM to return to the way it used to be, before the current Director took it into decline.