Why did Bernadine Healy resign from the American Red Cross?

Answer 1

There were a few reasons the board asked her to resign:

1) Dr. Healy ordered audits on all regional chapters due to a series of cases of embezzlement. She felt the ARC owed donors and the American public accountability and transparency. The board- made up of regional chapter representatives- thought audits were too invasive and would make the ARC look bad.

2) With Congressional support, Dr. Healy protested the exclusion of the Israeli Red Star of David (Magen David Adom) from the International Red Cross by withholding dues. At the time, Muslim nations had been included under their Red Crescent symbol for years, but the Red Star was considered to be an inflammatory symbol. Seeing this as antisemitic bias, Dr. Healy locked horns with the International Red Cross over this for years.

3) Dr. Healy also came under fire for refusing Elliot Spitzer's demand for the Red Cross to publicly release the names of the 9/11 victims who applied for Red Cross support.

4) Dr. Healy had a vision to create a strategic frozen blood reserve to bolster disaster preparedness in the event of future terror attacks or disasters. Some of the leftover money in the Liberty Fund, advertised to fund preparedness for future attacks as well as support 9/11 victims, was used to establish the infrastructure for the blood reserve. The board, already upset with Dr. Healy over what they thought were unfair audits, suspended the operation and ordered the disposal of thousands of pints of blood collected in the wake of 9/11.

The ARC is a wonderful, though broken, organization. Dr. Healy's efforts to improve the ARC's integrity and effectiveness were threatening to the regional chapters and International Red Cross, so they asked her to resign.