THE financial and clinical service audits of the local hospital run by Inter-Health Canada remain incomplete.
And Premier, Dr. Rufus Ewing, acknowledged that the hold-up is patience trying.
According to him, the delay, as he understands it, is due to the lack of financial information being turned over from the hospital.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre, Jill Magri, told the Weekly News that there is small percentage of information pending from the hospital’s side.
“We have provided all 2012 and 2011 information and are in the process of providing the financial data from 2011,” she said.
Neither she nor Ewing could commit to a timeframe for the completion of the audits.
The long due audits were only started this year, sometime around mid-February.
Last October, the Premier noted that Inter-health Canada could have to forfeit on their contract with the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG), if it is found that they have breached performance clauses – something the financial and clinical audits will assess.
The ‘exit clause’ in the Inter-Health contract is reported to have penalty cost of $125 million, exclusive of the $125 million mortgage on the hospital buildings, which has a reported 12 per cent interest rate. If the mortgage runs its full 24-year course, the buildings will have cost TCI residents half a billion dollars.
Governor Gordon Wetherell signed the contract in late 2008 following negotiations and decisions made by the then Health Minister Lillian Boyce, Finance Minister Floyd Hall and Director of Medical Services, Dr. Rufus Ewing, currently the leader of the Progressive National Party.
Under the contract, the National Health Insurance Plan (NHIP) was established in April 2010 and Ewing had the responsibility for managing primary care in TCI, while InterHealth Canada took over the responsibility for hospital management and secondary care.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Hugh McGarel-Groves in mid-June said NHIP is an absolute scandal and the biggest financial mess the Interim Administration has had to deal with.
According to him, NHIP is now reported to be costing the people of the TCI $60m annually or approximately 40 per cent of government revenue.
The financial and clinical audits are expected to have the effect of reducing hospital cost and improving clinical care, in addition to holding the hospital accountable for any defaults under the contract.
KPMG is the firm that will be handling the audit.
