Patients Owe Millions to K.H.M.H.

The national referral hospital is reporting more than thirty-five million dollars in unpaid patient medical bills.  This is a huge amount that the chairman of the Karl Heusner Memorial hospital says could have gone towards expanding its services to include more of the kinds of treatment that Belizeans seek overseas.  While the hospital will try to collect what is owed, it is also devising a more effective collections system.  K.H.M.H. Board Chairman, Doctor Andre Sosa explained to News Five how this new system will work.

On the Phone: Dr. Andre Sosa, Chairman, K.H.M.H.

“One of the things we’re looking at is to categorize our patients. We know that some patients will be unable to pay but there are others who are able to pay and we’re looking to create a database that will give us better information as to who is capable of paying or not. We have various ways in which we can go – in which we can look at collecting the monies. One certainly is by increasing our capacity in-house to make collections. Another possibility is to outsource the collection of the money – the fees that are due. And there are some other innovative ideas out there which we will sort. One of the proposals made is that we can sell the debt and have somebody else collect it and use any monies collected to make investments in bringing the rapid upgrades that we want to make.  The time when we have to travel abroad for life-saving care should substantially come to an end and it should be made available to everyone. You should be able to save your life and it shouldn’t matter whether you’re a millionaire or just Mr. Joe Public.”

Sosa said that the hospital does have a payment plan in place and that the K.H.M.H. will soon offer discounts for those who clear off current debt.