Minister & PLP On Lamb Foggo Centre Expenses
[Updated with video/documents] The debate over the plans to close the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre in St David’s continues, with Opposition MPs saying that the Health Minister has been “misleading” about the financial performance as it operated at a surplus, while the Minister released a document indicating the facility would need an almost $1 million grant each year to cover shortfall.
The Bermuda Hospitals Board [BHB] recently announced the St David’s medical facility would be closing, citing financial losses in the $100,000 to $350,000 per year range. The situation has been in the headlines, and a protest march is scheduled for tomorrow.
Shadow Health Minister Zane Desilva and St David’s MP Lovitta Foggo held a press conference this morning [Nov 21] where they said despite claims the Centre was operating at a loss of $250,000, the “truth is that Lamb Foggo operated at a $104,000 surplus in 2012/2013″ and is “still operating at a surplus.”
Citing a television report last night, Mr DeSilva said, “So what do we have here? A Minister who stands up in Parliament and says there is a loss of $250,000 per year, while reports from the BHB show that Lamb Foggo turned a profit last year.
“Either the Minister was misled by her Board’s Chairman or the Minister misled Parliament and the Country, in either case someone must be held to account.”
Ms Foggo said, “The OBA threat to close the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre has galvanized the community and with a petition having garnered close to 3000 signatures, it is evident that the people do not support shutting its doors.
“The leak of this report proves that we haven’t been told the whole story and that there is more going on with Lamb Foggo than meets the eye…and that is sad.”
“We cannot allow our current economic crisis to be used as an excuse for rash, risky decisions that may, in reality be motivated by secret meetings with unnamed physicians,” continued Ms Foggo. “Let’s use our brains to find a solution.”
The PLP proposed a number of options including consolidating government’s eastern public health presence to Lamb Foggo, restoring Diagnostic Services as an additional source of revenue, developing a strategy to raise awareness of the facility, and examining the possible benefits of renting a section of the facility.
They also suggested cutting the salary of the BHB Executive Staff by 15%, saying “this alone would add $250,000 back to the BHB’s coffers.”
Earlier this morning Health Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin released the UCC Business Plan document showing cost analyses and government grant requirements for the operation, which you can read here [PDF]. You can also read the BHB’s Executive Summary about the issue here [PDF].
According to the UCC Business Plan, which appears to be from around 2007 or so, a government grant would be needed cover the operating expenses each year.
The size of the grant is based on the expected operational shortfall, and it listed a grant of almost $1 million each year [$979,434] for the Eastern facility for years 1-5.
Mr DeSilva’s full statement follows below:
Good morning.
Like most of Bermuda…I was shocked by the report on ZBM last night…a report that revealed that for some time now Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin has been misleading Bermudians about the financial performance of The Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre.
The facts are all laid out in the Strategic Assessment Business Case: The OBA claimed that the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre was operating at a loss of $250,000
The truth is that Lamb Foggo operated at a $104,000 surplus in 2012/2013.
Also, Lamb Foggo was operating at a surplus from April – July 2013 of $95,000!
That is correct, as we have said in the past; Lamb Foggo is operating at a profit!
So what do we have here? A Minister who stands up in Parliament and says there is a loss of $250,000 per year, while reports from the BHB show that Lamb Foggo turned a profit last year.
Either the Minister was misled by her Board’s Chairman or the Minister misled Parliament and the Country, in either case someone must be held to account.
We must also ask, is why would an OBA Minister mislead the public on an issue like this?
Perhaps it has to do with a word that has gotten a lot of attention lately….Privatization.
The report makes the case that Lamb Foggo could be VERY profitable if external providers that quote “would not be bound by BHB (Bermuda Hospitals Board) collective bargaining agreements or revenue caps.”
The Minister has admitted to private, non-transparent meetings with unnamed physicians about taking over the facility…no contract put out to tender…no input from the public…no openness…no transparency.
It all gives the impression that the OBA is more interested in hooking up their friends and family than in protecting access to health care for the people of the east end.
The PLP believes that the people of St. George’s, St. David’s and Hamilton Parish are just some of the people who benefit from this facility and that it must be kept open.
That’s why we propose dumping the OBA backroom deals, improving efficiency at Lamb Foggo and keeping its doors open.
The PLP proposes:
• Consolidating government’s public health presence in the east to Lamb Foggo, shifting the functions of the outdated St. George’s clinic to the urgent care centre
• Restoring Diagnostic Services to the Lamb Foggo as an additional source of revenue
• Reducing staffing costs by shifting to a greater emphasis onmid-level practitioners and medical assistants
• Examining the benefits of introducing private, religious or charitable sector support
• Examining the operating hours to ensure that they meet the needs of the community
• Developing a communications strategy to raise awareness of the facility, its operating hours and services while discouraging Lamb Foggo’s use as a substitute for a primary medical care provider
• Examining the benefits and practicality of renting a section of the facility for private primary care or for services such as chronic disease management, orthopedic follow up or a geriatric clinic
• Cutting the salary of the BHB Executive Staff by 15% – this alone would add $250,000 back to the BHB’s coffers.
We can work together to keep this facility open, we can work together to improve health care, we can work together to reduce wait times. But we cannot work with a minister and board that will deliberately mislead the public in a bid to close and privatize this vital centre.
Lamb Foggo is too important to our community to close. The justification gave was it is losing money. The report revealed last night shows that it is not losing money and it is turning a profit!
People around the country are calling for Lamb Foggo to remain open. It is my hope that Minister Patricia Gordon Pamplin will correct the record in Parliament tomorrow, clarify why she mislead parliament and the country of the financial state of Lamb Foggo, and announce that she will be keeping Lamb Foggo open to review the options in the report.
Anything short of that action should result in her removal from office of misleading the people of this country.
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Ms Foggo’s full statement follows below:
The OBA threat to close the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre has galvanized the community and with a petition having garnered close to 3000 signatures, it is evident that the people do not support shutting its doors.
The leak of this report proves that we haven’t been told the whole story and that there is more going on with Lamb Foggo than meets the eye…and that is sad
The people of St. David’s are used to being ignored and marginalized…but as the representative for the people of St. David’s I will not stand by while their needs and the needs of all our neighbours in the east end are pushed aside and their voices ignored.
Lamb Foggo benefits the east end and Bermuda.
Consider this:
• According to this report, of the 77 physicians advertising in the yellow pages none are located east of Devonshire, creating a gap in access to care for people of the east end
• Demand for emergency care is rising and Lamb Foggo plays a key role in reducing the strain on resources and man-power at KEMH
• A decrease in KEMH Emergency beds by 6 or by 24% plus the additional 5,500 patients expected to now head to KEMH with the closing of Lamb Foggo will lead to a significant increase in wait times in the emergency room
• In severe weather or civil emergencies Lamb Foggo is perfectly positioned to meet the needs east end residents
• Lamb Foggo has helped to fill the service gap between the Emergency Department and the island’s General Practitioners
• Its existence has led to shorter waits and greater convenience for patients across the island
There is also the matter of being able to assist with foreseen and unforeseen incidents such as
• If the island were to face another major hurricane, the residents of St. David’s and St. George’s could once again find themselves cut off and isolated from medical care. As this report argues, Lamb Foggo is, “strategically placed and well equipped to provide emergency services…with a large generator and located well above potential storm
surges• The facility could assist in treating minor victims of an aircraft incident at LF Wade International Airport, relieving the pressure on KEMH
• It could also serve as an outpatient clinic during a major outbreak of a highly contagious disease
Add all these factors in and combine them with the desire of the people to see Lamb Foggo open and serving their needs.
Anyone can cut. It doesn’t take any brains, any vision or any creativity to cut.
Making cuts are easy, especially if those making the cuts either don’t care about the people or don’t have to live with the consequences of their actions. Making cuts are easy if you are more interested in hooking up your friends and family than in the needs of the people.
We cannot allow our current economic crisis to be used as an excuse for rash, risky decisions that may, in reality be motivated by secret meetings with unnamed physicians
Let’s use our brains to find a solution…let’s use our vision to see a way forward and let’s use our creativity to find new ways to meet the needs of our people. Let’s find a way to make Lamb Foggo operate more efficiently and more profitably, TOGETHER.
Let us CURE…not CUT
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The UCC Business Plan [older document, released by the Health Ministry today] follows below [PDF here]:
Update 2.50pm: Mr Desilva released an additional statement in response to the release of the UCC Business Plan by the Health Ministry. It follows in full below
We are pleased that the Minister released the 2007 Business Case for the Urgent Care Centres. We believe the Urgent Care Centres are necessary to provide better health care to Bermudians. This document confirms that view and provides evidence that Urgent Care Centres are needed and provide improved health outcomes for our citizens.
While we commend the Minister of Health for releasing this 6 year old report, we call on the Minister to release the August 2013 report commissioned by the Bermuda Hospitals Board. That report shows that the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre has made aProfit of $199,294 since April 2012, in direct contradiction to her claims that the facility is losing money.
It is important for all to note that Urgent Care Centres were taken into account when the new hospital was designed. There are 24% less beds in the new Emergency Department than are in the existing hospital. The loss of those beds coupled with the closing of Lamb Foggo will see a significant increase in waiting times at the Emergency Department. Urgent Care Centres reduce wait times at the Emergency Department and thus save lives!
We must continue moving health care forward in Bermuda, not backwards. This closure, which has been based on false assumptions, will move us in the wrong direction when it comes to health care in this Island and it must not happen!
What is clear from our reading of the 2007 report is that instead of closing Lamb Foggo, the BHB must focus on improving the efficiency of the Urgent Care Centre. We have said this all along, but this report backs up our assertions.
As an example:-The 2007 pre-construction business case predicted that in year 2 of the Lamb Foggo’s operation, patient revenue would be $1.17 Million; however the figures from the BHB show that in year 2 Patient revenue was almost double of what was expected $2.27 million.
-The 2007 pre-construction business case predicted that in year 2 of the Lamb Foggo’s operateration, expenses would be $2.03 Million; however the figures from the BHB show that in year 2 the UCC’s expenses were 25% higher that forecast at $2.58 million.
Therefore it is clear to us, that instead of shutting down the facility that is generating far more revenue than anticipated, the BHB must focus on making the UCC more efficient. If revenues are almost double that what was predicted, the BHB must focus on expenses to keep the UCC Operational!
Since year 2, as recent documents have shown, the BHB has controlled expenses and in year 3 of operation the Urgent Care Centre is now turning a profit. The OBA must continue to build on that progress and keep the profit making Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre open. The people of this country deserve no less!
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Update 2.50pm: What appears to be a copy of the recent report the PLP is referencing is here [PDF]. It has not been provided nor confirmed by any official sources, however does state the Lamb Foggo Centre made a “net income of $100,000″ in 2012/13 which they said “may be eroded by other costs that have not yet been charged.”
Update 4.16pm: We are now at another press conference, Premier Craig Cannonier is now speaking on the closure. Details to come….
Update 4.41pm: Health Minister Patricia Gordon Pamplin has just announced that she has directed the Bermuda Hospitals Board to not close the Lambe Foggo Urgent Care Centre until an “alternative” and “financially viable solution” has been worked out, which she anticipates will be around 6 months.
ARE THE PLP members willing to PAY out of their own personal finances, the funding provided by the taxpayers, when it’s proven that it it not profitable unless supported by taxpayers dollars ??????????????????????
Um, did you not hear. the 2013 report says that the facility is making a profit?? Or did you just not want to listen to that part?
wheres that report pleasee?
Both business cases–the one to open in 2007 and the one to close–have been posted on the BHB website since October 31. So no, PLP MPs, you did not have a “secret, leaked report.” Nor have there been secret meetings with “unnamed physicians.” But you do love a conspiracy to stir up your East End voters. As was noted in the Executive Summary Business Case, which was posted, a small surplus of about $100,000 was made in 2013/14. Unfortunately, as also noted in the report, centralised costs of running the facility were expected to wipe this surplus out. Centralised costs include insurance and covering staff sick leave and vacation, and daily scheduling and management of the facility, and they were not included. These costs would have been saved by BHB not providing the service there any more. The small surplus seen year to date in this fiscal year would also be wiped out by these centralised costs. The PLP spin on this makes you dizzy. And as for their solutions? Increasing unncessary diagnostic services to generate revenue–which was the PLP philosophy for 6 years–only leads to skyrocketing healthcare costs for the entire community.And as for looking for another way to utilize the clinic? Duh. The BHB and the MOH are already on it.
If it’s making a profit why doesn’t Dr Brown take it over and run it privately? He’d make a nice profit, and it would stay open. A win-win.
Why dont you fools leavethat man alone, he has nothing to do with the closure of this place, asa matter of fact his name has never been mmentioned with regard to this issue.is it that you oba supports now realize your party screwed up, again, now you’re looking to deflect in order to mask their incompetence ?!!
Hey, I’m suggesting something that would make Ewart a nice profit. Apparently you don’t like the idea of a him adding to his successful businesses.
Maybe you should look at the business plan released today. If you believe this was making a profit, you would believe anything.
@ Hmmmm
If we follow your comment to a logical conclusion, we would close KEMH since it relies mostly on taxpayer funding to survive. If we removed all grants, the hopital would close.
See my comment below – the public needs to know the facts. Was the information reported by Moreno correct or was the Minister correct?
Exactly!!!
Well that makes no sense. The KEMH is an essential hospital. It performs life-and-death operations that are not performed anywhere else.
What we’re talking about here is a first aid post that deals with scrapes and rashes. There nothing essential about it.
It’s amazing what you people think is a “logical conclusion”.
A 2007 forecast says a grant is needed. A 2013 document states that without a grant its turning a profit.2007-PLP. 2013-OBA. Still prefer the 2007 report? It’s usually so much easier for you people than these machinations through which you’re going to save Pat’s skin…..
“you people”. Nice.
Where are the financials that show these profits?
Show me the financials …… ????????? Where are the audited financials?
It says it made a profit before all of the expenses were charged against it.
So what were those expenses? If you’ve made a “profit” but haven’t paid your staff’s pension, future health insurance, interest on the building, maintenance, depreciation, etc. then you haven’t made a profit.
Well said PLP MPs, this this great !! Standing for the people of Bermuda.
Thank you Bernews for providing the .pdf. Now we have proof that UCC actually made a slim profit of 100k in 2012/2013.
I have to give this one to Zane Desliva. Not only did he reveal the truth he also provided a solution to cover future losses in the range of $250,000 by requiring executives to take a 15% pay cut. Not a bad idea.
OBA need to explain why the board wanted to close the facility in the first place. OBA championed transparency. It’s time to tell the public the truth.
It’s called expected loss and standard deviation. The facility is expected to make a loss. The volatility around this expected loss means that an occasional profit can be made. However, in the long term the facility will lose and is losing money. People need to understand MATH.
Use your brain and come to realization that PLP has failed us miserably and the business plan shows it all for this particular place and time. You have cut our families, seniors and as usual the list goes on and now you want us to use OUR brains to find a cure We did 2012
Maybe, but Lamb foggo has been making a profit!
How do you know that? Wheres the proof?
Where was all these calls for proof when it was said this place was operating at a loss?
The use of the term profit is misleading. Their primary (only?) source of funds is a government grant so a “profit” only means they didn’t spend all of the money government granted them (a novel concept!).
This “profit” could simply indicate that the government granted them too much money in the first place.
Bottom line, closing this unnecessary facility will save the Bermuda government money (and that’s REAL savings, not the Cog method of saving money – i.e. we WERE going to spend $5 million on that but because we didn’t, we saved $5 million).
@Lightening,
The hospital operates on grants too, should we close the hospital?
We have to cut costs. We can get by without the LF UCC. We cannot get by without the hospital.
The hospital is essential. The UCC is a part-time first aid post. Anyone who is not as thick as a post can see there is a difference.
@ lightning, are saying the UCC is free to use?
Not really a “profit”, it was only had a surplus because of a government grant.
This is definitely a sad situation for Bermuda.
Under the circumstances, the BHB needs to clarify the facts for the public. Was the UCC operating at a profit or a loss!!
It is also surprising that this new info has been leaked.
Lets not let politics get in the way of facts.
I cannot believe Minister Pamplin. If the center is really operating a profit she lied to us Bermudians. What did the board and Pamplin really have in mind!! OBA throws darts at the PLP yet what in the world is this???
Now let me wrap my head around this.
The PLP gave the BHB executives huge salaries that put the existence of the Urgent Care Facility in danger.Now Ms.Foggo wants all those people to take a 15% pay cut so it can stay open.
You wonder why Bermuda is in trouble?It is because of the former govt’s gross incompetence or even something else.
The Government of Bermuda is near broke. I just don’t think some of us will understand without the use of profanity. Maybe the Health Minister should take a page out of Rob Ford’s colorful vocabulary when she addresses the marchers….saddening
Um, but the Lamb Foggo is making a profit!
Why close something that is making you money?
If you believe that then there is simply no hope for you. Just cos PLP said it – doesn’t make it true. In fact it almost certainly means just the opposite.
it is not making money, it just didn’t use all the money allocated to them, what part of that do you not understand.
yeah, its making a profit jus like we were told we’re emerging from recession status…..SMDH
I hope she does
Where are these “reports from the BHB that show Lamb Foggo turned a profit last year” ?? What a load of rubbish! How could it possibly turn a profit – its an unnecessary facility and its closure was inevitable – PLP need so sit down and shut up and start ACTUALLY helping the people of Bermuda instead of just stirring up s*** THEY MADE!
@cmmbbda,
You sit down and shut up. You are no differnt from the PLP supporter who believes everything they were told. Try to be objective for a couple minutes
If we go by your thinking, then the OBA tells us 100% truth?
“The people of St. David’s are used to being ignored and marginalized…”
Hmmmmm…
Who was in power for the last 14 out of 15 years….?
St.David’s is MUCH older then the last 14 to 15 years, however please explain to me when this urgent care center came to be? So the one’s who where in power over the time frame you wish to concentrate on obviously DID look out for St.David’s. Contrary to what it is that you’re trying to insinuate.
Where are the financial reports that show the $104,000 profit for 2012/13 and $95,000 for 2013? Or are we just believing what Zane says?
thank you! typical PLP style, just throw numbers out there and hope people will believe them!
THAT is all OBA did when it was said the place was operating at a loss & everyone was ready to swallow it up, hook, line & sinker with no questions asked.
But is WAS operating at a loss.
The report that Ms Gordon Pamplin says determined the closure of the report, clearly shows the profits and losses for the last 4 years.
Where? Post a link to it.
Are you blind or you just didn’t bother to actually read the article above?
There a snippet of the article and Bernews also attached the .PDF. Scroll back up to the top of the page and you will see.
There is no financial report that indicates a profit of $104,000 for 12/13 and $95,000 for 2013. There is no such report above.
Taken from the above,
“Update 2.50pm: What appears to be a copy of the recent report the PLP is referencing is here [PDF]. It has not been provided nor confirmed by any official sources, however does state the Lamb Foggo Centre made a “net income of $100,000″ in 2012/13 which they said “may be eroded by other costs that have not yet been charged.”
http://cloudfront.bernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/UCC-Strategic-Assesment-Lamb-Foggo.pdf
Can somebody present some figures without spin?
Does that surplus include $979,434 of annual Govt. grant or not?
aint Bermuda politics grand..?
I have a suggestion! Why not have Island Construction provide the shortage of funds that are required to keep this establishment in business.
Since 2010 the UCC has recorded a total loss of $659 thousand which has had to be made up by the taxpayer.
If you read the report, instead of simply looking at numbers, it states and re-states that the small profit realized in 2013 was simply due to poor book-keeping undertaken by BHB, which at the time was under Mr. Desilva’s reign. I mean this is the same former Health Minister who protected BHB’s finances so zealously that not even the public was aware of the issues. The report noted that once all expenses, accrued within the various UCC cost centers, are finally revealed and tallied the small profit will be wiped out. “The figure may be eroded by other costs that have NOT YET been charged against the cost centres that are involved in the UCC’s operations” (see Current Position paragraph in attached report).
For the people that will blindly believe Mr. Desilva, read this comment within the report: “It is worth noting that in the exercise of preparing the business case, determining the exact financial position of the UCC was not straightforward with clinical and non-clinical leaders alike doubting the accuracy of profit and loss statements routinely printed through EPSL. In fact, the total cost of staffing UCC can only be captured by merging three cost centres” (see footnote in Financial Analysis section of attached report). So you see once you include the once hidden or non-included expenses from the three cost centers then which have been excluded from the original financial statements then the figure promoted as profit will be readjusted to account for these “hidden expenses” and the true loss making state will be revealed.
So, like the Consolidated fund and the various Government agencies/quangos under the PLP reign accurate and timely financial reporting fell to the way side along with financial accountability. Similar to the four consecutive qualified audits issued against the consolidated fund in their last few years in power along with the fact that the PLP also ceased from auditing the Contributory Pension Fund since 2005 allowing it to become seriously underfunded and vulnerable to misappropriations and/or blatant theft.
But given that Mr. Desilva is a successful businessman and a former Health Minister I have no doubt he understands what the report was stating and the issues in BHB’s financials. I assume that’s why in one day he went from stating that the UCC is a profitable business to noting the possible need to cut expenses and seek private funding for the UCC as a means to ensure its viability.
Nothing but politricks my friends.
But to the PLP and Mr. Desilva, thank you for sharing the report and simply reinforcing the rationale the BHB has used when coming to their decision.
Thanks Bob. Over to you Zane…
Let Correira and Desilva and Brown, take over this establishment…they do have the funds !!!!!!
The 2007 report says that to break even the Centre would need to sustain 8100 visits per year. The report Mareno quoted says that 2013 fiscal year visits totaled 5600. Something doesn’t add up for the Centre to be making a profit, if visits fell short by 2000+.
Obviously not eveyone here is a accountant.
I hear a lot of talk about dollars and cents…. But the centre was set up to save lives!! Even if it saves ONE life….I believe it’s worth it! What price can you put on that???
I’m glad someone finally said what I was thinking.
I just wonder how many lives might have been saved, had we had a facility many years ago.
I wonder how many lives we’ve lost to Bermuda roads, either waiting for the ambulance to arrive, or on the ride back to KEMH from either end of the island.
The centre was NOT set up to save lives. It has never saved a single life. It was set up to deal with first aid, bumps, scrapes, and rashes. They could x-ray your foot to see if you broke it, but if you had a heart attack you couldn’t go there, you had to go to KEMH. Describing it as “saving lives” is just a slogan lie that Foggo likes to keep repeating.
“UCCs provide treatment to patients suffering from non-life-threatening conditions that require quick attention,
including bone fractures, pneumonia and flu, and minor lacerations.” – As per page 2 of the 2007 business plan.
So despite the repetitive rhetoric around this island, the UCC was never intended to save lives or provide such services. On top of that, if it was able to provide lifesaving services, you would have to make sure that your near and/or possible death experience occurs during the 8 hours in which the facility operates.
But either way this Government has now proven to be just as spineless as its predecessor in terms of taking the necessary actions to right the sinking ship known as Bermuda. We will continue to hemorrhage money via such facilities and I guess just pray that our creditors forget that we owe them billions when the bills come due.
Good luck BDA
Ridiculous,emotional non-argument.
From the BHB Website::::::
“Urgent Care is not Emergency Care!
If your injury or illness is serious, or potentially life threatening, you should call an ambulance (911) or go straight to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. The Urgent Care Centre has basic diagnostic equipment (x-ray, ultrasound and blood tests) and a small team including a doctor, nurses and diagnostic technologists. We can treat minor illnesses and injuries.
Only the hospital has sophisticated equipment to diagnose head injuries, clots, strokes, heart attacks, major trauma (road accidents), and the surgical support services that could save your life in a true emergency.
If you have any of the following, go straight to the hospital or call an ambulance:
•You are injured and have a large gash or cut with a lot of blood
•You faint or have a head injury that knocks you out
•You are hurt in a motor vehicle accident
•You have chest pains
If you are very worried about any illness or injury, go to the hospital. If you think you need an ambulance don’t hesitate to call 911.”
Dr. Brown closed The Indigenent Clinic,nobody marched then,that was more important!
No it was not, it was a degrading and insulting place !!
But it was closed to save money.
Oh My !!! This was a huge OBA FAilure!! Pamplin made a huge mistake and she mislead the island.
Except she didn’t…
Hi troll. Explain how she didn’t then.
It ran at a loss. It’s Zane who is misleading you.
Here’s a clue. Something that needs a $979,000 subsidy per year is NOT running at a profit.
Zane knows that, but he’s pandering to the ignorant.
Sandy bottom. Take off the OBA blinders and get off the beach and get on the Internet and do some research. Let me help you out:
“BHB denied that the facility had operated at a surplus and said that in reality the UCC had been running at a loss for several years, in large part due to a business plan drawn up in 2007 that was predicated on receipt of a Government grant that never materialised”.
The facility in 2012/2013 made a 100k profit without a government grant.
Not to mention, BHB could have promoted the UCC facility as a real alternative to KEMH Emergency Dept. but they didn’t. BHB could have displayed wait times in KEMH and increased the awareness and directed patients for minor scratches, bruises etc. to visit the UCC instead. BHB could have had a doctor present 8:00am in the morning but they didn’t.
To put a long story short, BHB can reorganize the facility, implement Zane’s 15% executive pay cut strategy and keep the facility profitable. Pamplin understands this logic how come you don’t? She even proposed a 6 month window to enable BHB to rework the structure and its cost effectiveness.
Last but not least, I would much rather wait 10mins at UCC then to sit in a lobby with 30 sick people and wait 3hours and catch other people’s sickness at KEMH.
I thought it”s $104,000 for 12/13 and $95,000 for 2013, according to Zane. Where is the financial report that says that? The pdf’s above do not show those numbers. And you’re ignoring the “other costs in UCCs operations” in the BHB document. How convenient. If you ignore operational costs, it runs at a profit. The PLP view of finance, I guess.
Update 2.50pm: What appears to be a copy of the recent report the PLP is referencing is here [PDF]. It has not been provided nor confirmed by any official sources, however does state the Lamb Foggo Centre made a “net income of $100,000″ in 2012/13 which they said “may be eroded by other costs that have not yet been charged.”
http://cloudfront.bernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/UCC-Strategic-Assesment-Lamb-Foggo.pdf
I even attached the link for you. Hopefully now we will be on the same page.
The 2012/2013 finances are not at all in bad shape. BHB can most definitely rework the business strategy for UCC and keep the facility open and make a profit.
Not a troll. I just ask questions that you don’t like.
I like how you keep ignoring the parts of people’s posts that prove you wrong, regurgitating the same false yep talking point, over and over. “May have been eroded…” I wonder why you keep ignoring that.
If you’re going to use an ad hominem attack, make sure it’s one that applies.
You made it back troll. For a second I thought you was going to add substance to the forum but I guess not.
Thanks again troll. Until next time.
More evasion and ad hominems.
Interesting that you’d make the choice to insult and defame, rather than address what I said.
Makes one wonder who the real troll is…
Is it so hard for some of you people to realize that your blind support is made up from ignorance and you do not realize that you have been mislead or better DECEIVED. WOW … never seen a politician say one thing but really had intentions for something else. It is time for some of you to put on some GLASSES.
The Minister made a big error in JUDGMENT because I bet today she is running around trying to figure out who released the report to the TV station and how can she spin this around. That is a big WRENCH in her plans to close the facility even though the justification may not have been TRUTHFUL.
PLEASE EXPLAIN MADAME MINISTER AND BOARD !!! What do we really have here for the BERMUDA People. ARE YOU TELLING US THE TRUTH ??? Or is it as simple as you want to sell this profitable seven (7) million dollar facility to a friend. Summarize it in one or two paragraphs so that I and all the rest of Bermuda can understand in layman terms what is going on.
We the people should be questioning whether or not “DUE DILIGENCE” was applied when making the decision to close the facility especially since we “THE PEOPLE” own and it has the potential to be a profitable enterprise. Which some of you … ignorant people want to sell off. The facility’s perceived losses were less than one top civil servant pay which may not have even been the case according to the reports above. And here we have other departments that lose MILLIONS upon MILLIONS each year.
Some politicians agendas are not always the people’s agenda. I REPEAT … SOME OF OUR POLITICIANS have their own agenda. We NEED TO FIND OUT IF THE MINISTER HAS HER OWN AGENDA. How could she hold meeting with potential stakeholders to take over the Urgent Care Facility … wouldn’t this be something that the Bermuda Hospitals board would be looking in to. NOT THE MINISTER.
I said this before and I will say it again :
Cheez … you people on these blogs have so much personal issues, it is unbelievable !!! Who constantly complains about a dirty house without cleaning will forever live in rubbish. Just roll your sleeves up … get over it and contribute to cleaning up the mess. But for heaven sakes GROW UP and stop whining, complaining and stop avoiding do the housecleaning. Things need to move forward for our children. So all of you, PLEASE … PLEASE … PLEASE … JUST GROW UP.
It is not always about OBA and PLP. It’s about BERMUDA !!!
WE know the PLP made numerous mistakes but keep it real. WHY ..WHY .. WHY – DON’T YOU EVER GET TIRED OF BLAMING AND COMPLAINING !!! Will admitting they made mistakes let you move on and then I guess – YOU WIN WHATEVER STUPID GAME that you where looking to be RIGHT ABOUT. And then WE CAN MOVE ON. SO Let me help you and many other out. THE PLP, UBP and many other Governments have messed up. But at this rate, the OBA looks set to mess up as well. Don’t let them do it at the expense of your children and mine. Because it doesn’t appear that they have the people’s interest at heart. HAPPY NOW !!. PLEASE WAKE UP AND PUT ON YOUR GLASSES ..
NEWS FLASH: A Review of the BERMUDA STOCK EXCHANGE last night (Nov 20,2013) revealed that … the only stock in the black was HEALTHCARE. INTERESTING … WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SELL PREMATURELY A CASH COW.
I own shares in BERMUDA INC which includes the URGENT CARE FACILITY and all the rest of entitled GDP and I pay my taxes like every other shareholder, I would question WHY .. WHY would I look to sell my stock when this particular business provides a profitable FUTURE for ME and MY CHILDREN. DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME. I DON’T CARE WHO ELSE SAY IT. It could of been the US President, a group of aliens, The Russians, The Greeks or I guess for some of you hard wits – the dreaded PLP. I DON’T CARE WHO. IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE and ON TOP OF THAT THE PAPER TRAIL SAYS DIFFERENT. PERIOD !!!
SO PLEASE, PLEASE WAKE UP .. OPEN your EYES and stop being BLINDED by talk that does not ADD UP. I AM NO FOOL AND I THINK A LOT OF YOU ARE NOT FOOLS EITHER.
It is not always about OBA and PLP. It’s about BERMUDA !!!
SUPPORT YOUR PEOPLE
This is close to a disaster.
The Minister stated that the Board decided to close the UCC without her input i.e it is their responsibility. We now have a report that she has directed the BHB to keep the facility open. How can this be possible?
If there was a ‘business case’ to close the UCC by BHB, how can the Minister justify ‘directing BHB to keep it open’..
No political spin. The public really needs to know what is going on!!
For about 6months
If you’re suggesting it would have been better to stick with the decision to close it, I agree.
Both business cases–the one to open in 2007 and the one to close–have been posted on the BHB website since October 31. So no, PLP MPs, you did not have a “secret, leaked report.” Nor have there been secret meetings with “unnamed physicians.” But you do love a conspiracy to stir up your East End voters. As was noted in the Executive Summary Business Case, which was posted, a small surplus of about $100,000 was made in 2013/14. Unfortunately, as also noted in the report, centralised costs of running the facility were expected to wipe this surplus out. Centralised costs include insurance and covering staff sick leave and vacation, and daily scheduling and management of the facility, and they were not included. These costs would have been saved by BHB not providing the service there any more. The small surplus seen year to date in this fiscal year would also be wiped out by these centralised costs. The PLP spin on this makes you dizzy. And as for their solutions? Increasing unncessary diagnostic services to generate revenue–which was the PLP philosophy for 6 years–only leads to skyrocketing healthcare costs for the entire community.And as for looking for another way to utilize the clinic? Duh. The BHB and the MOH are already on it.
The OBA continues to stack things up by way of their dodging. I can’t wait until the CFO’s situation starts to hit the fan. The savings from her admin leave and her interim secondee replacement would have kept the UCC unit at a breakeven point for about 2 years. And they really want us to believe that it is about being financially responsible. So selective.
Promised to stop wastage but deliver a budget that is in excess of the PLP’s last 2 budgets.
Promised to cut the debt but embark on a 3 year budget that provides for significant increase in debt.
Complain about the PLP traveling but the travel budget is some departments is more. 2 years suspension of term limits but then abolish the altogether.
No decriminalization of Marijuana mentioned in election promises or 1st throne speech but walla, it is on the agenda.
10% pay cut, right! Then increase the # of ministers by 1 and wipe out the pay cut.
And most recently, we are told that the BHB made the decision and now the Minister had directed the BHB. Why couldn’t she have directed them before.
The list goes on.
Doesn’t anyone see a trend. I wish we will wake up and see the lies and not excuse it because they are not the PLP. We must hold our politicians accountable.
Hahahahaha, politricks….some people would buy air in a bag…The truth is WE DON’T KNOW THE TRUTH, and we probably never will… peace