Patients owe QEH $40 million

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) has intensified its efforts to collect more than $40 million in outstanding money owed to it by delinquent clients/patients.

The latest move by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) was to further ease those debtors experiencing financial challenges by extending its discount offer on arrears.

“Due to the challenging economic climate, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) wishes to extend its 25 per cent discount offer for patients/clients who have outstanding arrears. The new deadline for such payments will now be Tuesday, October 31st, 2023,” the QEH said in a public notice issued on Tuesday. “Our team in the Corporate Business Unit stands ready to facilitate your payments. For those clients who are unable to pay the arrears in full, an affordable payment plan can be arranged.”

Communications Specialist with the hospital Shane Sealy told Barbados TODAY on Wednesday that the $40 million in arrears cover up to April this year and represents balances brought forward since the inception of the institution in November 1964.

“To curb the arrears going forward, we have also increased initial patient deposits to avoid having to chase down clients for receivables,” he disclosed.

Sealy said the QEH has also been sending letters to remind clients about arrears and advise on how they can pay.

“We facilitate payment plans once there is agreement with the patient/clients,” he said.

The communications specialist also disclosed that the hospital has had to go the legal route to collect outstanding payments.

“We have also used debt collection services and as a last resort, our legal team has been dealing with some cases,” he added.

Sealy disclosed that the healthcare institution has had some success in recovering arrears, but acknowledged that more work needs to be done to resolve outstanding payments while clients/patients are encouraged to settle. (EJ)