An explanation has been issued by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC] regarding its controversial $632 million emergency procurement.
In a statement disseminated to the media yesterday, the Board of Directors of the hospital revealed that based on its own probe into the multimillion-dollar emergency procurement at the beginning of the year, it was found that the GPHC was facing a critical shortage of drugs.
Reasons cited for the shortage by hospital authorities included underestimation and late quantification of drugs, the annulment of a tender because a GPHC Finance Department employee tampered with a tender document; and the failure of some local suppliers to honour their 2016 contracts.
The Board in its statement further pointed out that on February 3, 2017, Minister of Public Health, Ms. Volda Lawrence, held a meeting with then Chief Executive Officer [CEO] [Ag], Mr. Allan Johnson, and senior staff of the Finance and Pharmacy Departments of GPHC and compelled them to immediately devise a plan of action to alleviate the drug shortage as quickly as possible.
The staff of GPHC reported that the Minister requested that the hospital take into consideration the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO)’s emergency mechanism to supply pharmaceuticals, and also check with the Materials Management