Teacher faces hip surgery hurdle
Health ministry’s unpaid bills block medical assistance for educator; $400m owed to suppliers
Published:Friday | November 8, 2024 | 12:10 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
A husband is facing an increasingly dire situation after a medical supplier refused to accept a commitment letter from the health ministry to pay for the apparatus needed for his wife’s critical surgery. The supplier cited unpaid debts from the Ministry of Health and Wellness as the reason for the refusal.
St Catherine teacher Christopher Kelly said his wife requires hip-replacement surgery following a car accident two years ago.
In a bid to help cover the $876,415 cost of the surgery, Kelly applied to the ministry’s Compassionate Fund Unit, which provides grants to vulnerable individuals who cannot afford necessary medical care. He was approved for assistance in July.
Kelly told The Gleaner that the Spanish Town Hospital, where his wife is scheduled to undergo surgery, instructed him to present the letter of commitment to a particular medical supplier that could provide the required implant. However, when he attempted to submit the letter, the supplier rejected it.
“When we called the company to let them know that we are coming to get the approval, they told us that they are not accepting the letter because of issues with the ministry,” he said. “They (Ministry of Health and Wellness) owe the company, and that is why they are refusing to accept any more compassionate-approval letters.”
Kelly said that just three weeks ago, he called the company again and learned that they were turning away other patients with similar letters of approval from the ministry. He then reached out to another supplier but received the same response.
He said when he informed the Compassionate Fund Unit of the issue, he was told that processing payments for suppliers took time.
In the meantime, his wife, who is also a teacher, has become bedridden and has lost her job as a result.
“She should have done the surgery from last year … . She is at home suffering, and it is really having a serious effect on the family,” he said.
Financially, Kelly is struggling to cover the costs of his wife’s care.
“You know teachers don’t get paid big bucks, so my salary has to be paying mortgage, bills, buying food, [and] assisting with medical supplies. I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars since she has met in the accident. It is costing me through my teeth,” he told The Gleaner.
Kelly also expressed frustration that the driver responsible for the accident has not taken any responsibility. While he has hired a lawyer, there has been no progress on that front. He discovered that the other motorist was driving a rental car at the time of the crash.
“It is really a tough one,” he said.
Although he was not made aware of this particular case, Errol Greene, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, confirmed to The Gleaner that the ministry does owe suppliers, but he said steps are being taken to resolve the issue.
Greene noted that the Compassionate Fund has nearly $400 million in outstanding payments.
At a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness acknowledged the “valid concern” of government contractors about delayed payments. He said he has instructed newly appointed finance minister Fayval Williams to review the process “to ensure that the Government is speeding up economic activity by paying its bills quickly and on time”.
Meanwhile, Greene stated that health and wellness minister Dr Christopher Tufton is reviewing the management of the Compassionate Fund to improve efficiency.
“We get literally hundreds of requests a month for assistance, and frankly speaking, we are not able to accommodate all the requests,” Greene told The Gleaner. “We are looking at the most serious cases, the life-threatening ones. We’ve developed a matrix, and we are putting things in place to administer it in such a way that whatever little we have, we can stretch.”