| InterHealth vows to help reduce health care costs | | Print | |
| Wednesday, 09 November 2011 17:54 | |||
 InterHealth Canada says it will do all it can to reduce costs of the two hospitals it operates in the Turks and Caicos Islands and has already been meeting with government toward that end. “We accept and acknowledge that (financial) constraints and restraints … apply to health care and so we are working with the government on potential cost cutting and revenue making measures that can be implemented in the near future and in the longer term,” said InterHealth Chief Executive Roger Cheesman. But he pointed out that government’s contract with InterHealth is not up for renegotiation. “What does exist within the agreement is the facility to request change and that is what we and the government are doing — reviewing what changes can be made to benefit the cost and delivery of health care,” Cheesman said. Not being considered are closing the underutilised Cockburn Town Medical Centre on Grand Turk or reducing staff, Cheesman said. “We have, however, always accepted that there is the capacity to utilise the (Grand Turk) centre further than is being done so at the moment and reviews are currently underway,” he said. “Services that are being considered included health tourism and the provision of long term care.” As for staffing, Cheesman said, “I am confident that there will be no staff cuts at either centre. In fairness, we are working with marginal numbers as it is and so this really isn’t a realistic consideration. “Jobs and duties may change slightly due to any new services that are implemented in the future, however these will be discussed and debated at the appropriate time.” InterHealth Canada will continue trying to employ Turks and Caicos Islanders wherever possible, he said. Under discussion are new or contracted services that might be able to bring down costs, Cheesman said. “The scope of work in both centres — Provo and Grand Turk — is being looked at to see where we might be able to move certain services to other providers and introduce new services, which will require a small financial outlay now, but that will result in savings over time,” he said. “For instance, it might be that we are having to send patients overseas for surgeries and treatments that, with the purchase of particular specialist equipment, our doctors and visiting consultants can do here in the TCI, thus resulting in substantial savings over time.”
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