The proposal for the amalgamation of services of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) and the Universal Health Services (UHS) is again on the front burner, since, for the first time the staff of Universal Health Services (UHS) have made their position known. But what is peculiar about their position statement is that they are rebuffing what they say is a proposal for a full Government takeover or full sell-out of Universal. Their release refers to “100% Government ownership or…liquidation of Universal Health Services.”
The only official statements we’ve seen coming from the Government of Belize have said that Government intends to purchase a two-thirds stake in the UHS, in exchange for taking on the UHS’s debt of over $30 million – a debt that the Government had guaranteed and must now make good upon because UHS has not paid it.
Today, however, the Amandala newspaper received a statement via e-mail from UHS staff, claiming that the staff is denouncing the proposal for 100% ownership or liquidation. But the central question is – from where did this report of full Government acquisition come?
When we contacted one of the staff spokespersons at UHS, Rhonda Lecky, marketing director, she told us that they had learned of the new proposal last week. She said that while UHS staff is not opposed to Government taking over two-thirds majority—making UHS a public/private institution, they are utterly opposed to a full Government take-over.
Lecky said that about 150 UHS workers of a total of about 170 met today at the Belize Institute of Management (BIM) and discussed their concerns. Senior management of UHS have said that they know nothing of a 100% Government take-over, and the staff have not yet discussed the matter with Ministry officials, said Lecky.
While we were unable to reach the Minister of Health, Hon. Joe Coye, on the issue after we received the UHS statement, we did speak with a knowledgeable source affiliated with him, who has said that the 100% Government takeover had come up in a meeting with the Ministry, when Dr. Martha Habet, president of the Belize Medical and Dental Association, asked why the Government would not take up 100% ownership of UHS rather than the proposed two-thirds.
Channel 7 News reported on Friday, January 5, that a release from the Medical and Dental Union had said that the Belize Medical and Dental Association had met on Thursday and made the unanimous decision that the Government should acquire 100% of Universal.
We note that while this was one of the scenarios considered prior to Government’s announcement that it would acquire two-thirds of Universal, Government has only publicly declared its intent to acquire a majority, while leaving a third of the shares for private sector parties who currently own UHS.