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UHS – SSB not out, Dr. Vinny’s group still in

GeneralUHS - SSB not out, Dr. Vinny’s group still in
Chair(wo)man of the Social Security Board (SSB) Investment Committee, Mrs. Lourdes Smith, told Amandala late this evening that the SSB Investment Committee viewed a Power Point presentation of a pre-feasibility scan on Thursday, December 13, 2007, to determine if a full feasibility study should be embarked on in respect of an interest of the SSB in the Universal Health Services Hospital.
 
“We are doing what the people have asked us to do…it is the responsibility and the duty of each and every member of the Board of Directors and of the Investment Committee to take suggestions for investment of the Social Security fund…we need to invest the fund for the future wisely …we have to look at investments carefully…we cannot abdicate our responsibility to the stakeholders of the Social Security fund making our decisions on an emotional basis,” she told us.
 
Mrs. Smith says that it is her understanding that it was a board member who first brought up the discussion about SSB purchasing shares in (or all of) the UHS. She told us that in many other countries Social Security Boards own their own hospitals, when it proves cost effective to do so. Mrs. Smith said the Investment Committee would sit down sometime in the future to study in depth the documents presented to the committee on Thursday by the consulting firm commissioned by the board.
 
On Thursday night, December 13, Dr. Louis Zabaneh, the Chief-Executive-Officer of SSB, told us that SSB had commissioned the pre-feasibility study to determine if it was worthwhile for the SSB to invest in the hospital. Dr. Zabaneh told us that the asking price for the UHS was around $36 million, but the pre-feasibility study had determined that much of that asking price included “non-core assets”; that the realistic price for the hospital was between $22.2 million and $25 million. Dr. Zabaneh told us that Social Security spends millions of dollars on employment injury (EI), and that is what had fueled their interest in finding out if SSB would realize savings by owning a hospital. He said that the Belize SSB owning a hospital would not be breaking ground, that in Mexico and some other Central American countries, and elsewhere, SSB’s own hospitals.
 
We understood Dr. Zabaneh to say that the Investment Committee thought that they “needed more research” of the pre-feasibility study, that “after they read the documents in full they will decide” if they will engage the consulting firm in a full feasibility study. We say we understood Dr. Zabaneh to say that the process was still on, because the very next day other media understood him to say that the SSB investigation into purchasing the UHS was a dead deal.
 
Deputy Chair(wo)man (Employee’s Representative) of the SSB, Ms. Elena Smith, confirmed the position that the Investment Committee would be looking at the pre-feasibility study in more depth in the future this evening. She told us that the specific committee sits once per month, and that their next meeting will be in January 2008.
 
Meanwhile, Dr. Vinny and his group of 7 or so doctors from the United States, whose interest in the UHS had been described by a government official as “optimistic”, are still in the “race” to acquire UHS, or some shares in the hospital. Dr. Vinny told us this morning that his group was still negotiating and that they were considering 51% equity in the UHS. He said that they were studying an audited report of the hospital’s business, but they weren’t certain as to how accurate it was.
 
And how would they turn the UHS around? Dr. Vinny told us that if his group decides to buy in (and the deal would have to be protected from any possible repercussions caused by a change of government if it is consummated before the general elections), they would cut cost of services by 25% to 30%, and offer additional services, including treatment of cancer, lithotripsy (breaking kidney stones non-surgically), and introducing an endocrinologist to Belize. He said that besides serving patients in Belize, they would also aim to attract patients from Western Guatemala. Down the road he could see a made over UHS, under their management, attracting patients from as far away as the USA.
 
President of the NTUCB (National Trade Union Congress of Belize), Mr. Rene Gomez, told us that the whole thing seemed “fishy” to him, and that we could expect a press release from the NTUCB within the week to clarify their position on this deal.
 
Amandala inquired, if not the GoB, then who made the suggestion for SSB to consider purchasing shares (or all of) the UHS? Why is this person being so modest? You might be a hero! 

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