Red Cross President Healy Says Was Forced Out http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=324751 October 26, 2001 04:07 PM ET By Lisa Richwine WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American Red Cross President Bernadine Healy said on Friday she was being forced out of her job after clashing with the charity's board over a relief fund set up for victims and families of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and other issues. Healy, a 57-year-old cardiologist, said she will leave at the end of the year after more than two years in the job. Asked why she was leaving, Healy told reporters: "I had no choice." David McLaughlin, chairman of the Red Cross board, who stood beside Healy as she spoke, said the board did not ask her to leave, although he acknowledged some disagreement. "The board was solidly behind Dr. Healy. She had a choice," he said. "I don't think that's true," said Healy. The American Red Cross, one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, has collected $531 million to aid victims and families of last month's attacks which killed about 5,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Healy said she had decided to keep the money raised after the Sept. 11 attacks separate from other disaster funds -- a departure from past practices and one that was quickly swept up in controversy. Healy said she strongly opposed combining the funds. "Reasonable people can differ," she said, announcing her departure to Red Cross employees and volunteers. She said another contentious issue was her decision to withhold the American Red Cross' dues from the International Committee of the Red Cross to protest the ICRC's exclusion of an Israeli relief group. Healy said this was "a deep principle for me not easily compromised." In her farewell speech, Healy said she was leaving the Red Cross with the highest level of public confidence ever recorded. "We have done many things together, brought a lot of change, and it has not always been easy, but it has been magnificently worthwhile," she said. She plans to write a book about Clara Barton, a Civil War nurse who founded the American Red Cross, and to serve as an adviser on preparing for bioterrorist attacks. Healy had previously been the first woman to head the National Institutes of Health and her tenure there from 1991 to 1993 was also controversial. She launched a major women's health study and pressed for women and minorities to be included in all clinical trials at a time when most medical studies focused on white men. In 1994, Healy made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate from Ohio before going to Ohio State University to serve as dean of the school's College of Medicine and Public Health. The American Red Cross, with an annual budget of more than $2 billion, collects blood, organizes relief efforts around the world and trains volunteers in life saving skills. The organization's board of governors will appoint an interim chief executive at a later date, spokeswoman Blythe Kubina said. NSP Lista isprobava demokratiju u praksi ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrBE8.bVKZIq Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
