State paid millions to private health care providers; health minister cutting back on outsourcing

File: health Minister Dr Fuad Khan

The State has paid about $400 million to private hospitals, nursing homes and other private health care providers since 2009 because national health institutions chose to outsource services to them.

However, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan is stopping this.

He told the Express newspaper Wednesday state health care facilities must stop all outsourcing to private hospitals except with the authority of the minister or the Chief Medical Officer (CMO).

"This money should have been used to upgrade the public health system and develop procedures in-house; this money should have been spent on much more comprehensive services such as increasing the amount of equipment in the system," Khan told the paper.

The minister disclosed the figures in the Senate in answer to a question by Independent Senator Harold Ramkissoon.

Khan said about 153 private hospitals, nursing homes and health care facilities benefited from the outsourcing. Ramkissoon had asked for figures for the period 2009-2010 and 2011-2012.

Khan listed the million-dollar amounts, noting that the figures are too numerous to list. In the period 2009-10 he said said the figures for outsourcing was $164 million. He named the state institutions that paid the funds:

• South-West Regional Health Authority: $7 million-plus
• Eastern Regional Health Authority: $4.8 million
• North-West Regional Health Authority: $4.5 million
• North-Central Regional Health Authority: $62 million
• Ministry of Health: $84 million

For the period 2010-2011.

• SWRHA: $4.8 million
• ERHA: $10.5 million
• NWRHA: $2.5 million
• NCRHA: $58.4 million
• Ministry of Health: $103 million

Some of the beneficiaries:

• Community Hospital of Seventh Day Adventists: $58.1 million
• Southern Medical Clinic: $35.7 million
• Surgi-Med Clinic: $2.6 million
• Cross Crossing Medical Centre: $2.5 million
• ACI: $34 million
• Caribbean Heart Care: $79.4 million
• Medical Associates: $8.4 million
• Westshore private hospital: $7.9 million
• John Hayes Memorial Kidney Foundation: $2.7 million
• Community Hospital of Seventh Day Adventists was paid $1.1 million

Khan said the million-dollar figures were for services such as neurosurgery, cardiovascular services and intensive-care treatment.

He added, "I must say, the outsourcing has basically gone right down in this period from January to December 2012."