Importance of UHWI must be protected, says outgoing CEO

With his tenure as acting chief executive officer of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) set to expire on June 10, Eric Hosin has made an impassioned plea for everything possible to be done to protect and preserve the institution, especially for the poor and needy.

Hosin said the board of management is making arrangements for his replacement.

In his parting remarks at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today, Hosin acknowledged that the hospital was in a very bad state but stressed that it remains critical to the country’s healthcare system.

“This is, in many cases, the last resort, so when others cannot handle things, it has to be handled by UHWI,” he said.

Emphasising the importance of the training institution, the outgoing acting CEO added: “We cannot afford as a nation to let this thing slip anymore. We have to correct it and we have to protect it because the nation is depending on it.”

He thanked Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis for flagging various issues in her performance audit.

Hosin said he hoped investigations being conducted by the police and the Integrity Commission would provide greater insight into what went wrong at the institution and help prevent a recurrence in the future.

In her audit, Monroe Ellis unearthed a litany of procurement breaches and the misuse of the hospital’s tax-exempt status to benefit private companies.

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