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Scandalous Revelations at Final Day of KHMH Hearings
posted (December 18, 2009)

After four weeks and testimony from 18 witnesses, this morning the three member commission investigating allegations of wrongdoing at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital ended its public hearings. One new witness was called today and three witnesses who testified previously were recalled. After their testimony, Commission Chair Adolph Lucas announced that it was over. It was an eventful end with members of the previous and new administration at each other’s throats, squaring off on national TV and radio. 7News Keith Swift has the story.

Keith Swift Reporting,
Laurel Grant, the Human Resources Manager, was recalled to answer questions about parts for the hospital’s chiller which were bought, paid for, but which the hospital never received.

Adolph Lucas, Chairman of Commission of Inquiry
“These parts were ordered Flamingo Exports in Miami Florida. But they were not cleared and eventually they were auctioned and he is saying that the KHMH, as a result of that, lost to the tune of $16,000. Can you assist the commission about what transpired?â€￾

Laurel Grant, Human Resources Manager â€" KHMH
“I am aware that the parts were ordered and I am aware that it was paid for but I was not aware of was that it had arrived. I did not see any paper work for these parts at that time.â€￾

Orvin Nicholas, Commissioner
“Weren’t these urgently needed?â€￾

Laurel Grant,
“Yes urgently needed.â€￾

But apparently not urgent enough because the parts sat inside the Port of Belize compound until they were sold at an auction. The commission demanded answers.

Orvin Nicholas,
“Did you plan to call the supplier to inquire what happened to the shipment?â€￾

Laurel Grant,
“Well at this particular time there are a lot of things that we needed to get done, the new board had recently took over and we were going through a transition period. So to be truthful, yes we needed these parts urgently because the chiller was done for some time but I don’t recall that we had discussed it. Maybe we did but I can’t recall.â€￾

But when she testified Angela Wade, the KHMH Director of Technical and Support Services says she did.

Angela Wade, Director - Technical & Support Services, KHMH
“I informed management in management meetings that the chiller was still down and we did not any parts for it.â€￾

Orvin Nicholas,
“And that you had already paid for it?â€￾

Angela Wade,
“As I said these were documents that were not done in my presence. I was not aware that we had already for everything because this was done through the Director of Finance at the time.â€￾

Turns out the items - already paid for by the KHMH were auctioned and then new owner attempted to resell them to the KHMH.

Angela Wade,
“And I was told that there was someone trying to sell some parts that we needed and wanted to see me. So Mr. Hamas came up to see me and told me of the parts he had to sell and I asked for further information to clarify how he had the same parts that we needed and he told me that he got it from an auction. I asked him to bring in these documents for me which I then passed on to the CEO and confirmed that it was indeed the same items that we were waiting on and that is how I came about knowing about the parts. The parts came in and were actually at the Port but it was never cleared.â€￾

Adolph Lucas,
“Did KHMH bought these parts that Hamas was offering?â€￾

Angela Wade,
“No we did not. My advice to the CEO was no, we should not.â€￾

And so the hospital reordered and paid for the same parts â€" twice.

Angela Wade,
“Two same payments was made to Flamingo for the same amounts, same items by Mr. Knowles.â€￾

Orvin Nicholas,
“Who signed that second order?â€￾

Angela Wade,
“I do not know sir, it is the same order, the same invoice number, but payments made twice.â€￾

Orvin Nicholas,
“Who should have picked it up, you think, it was a double payment?â€￾

Angela Wade,
“I guess they should have picked it up at finance when they were paying.â€￾

The current Finance Director Carlos Perrera deflected blame.

Carlos Perrera, Director of Finance â€" KHMH
“Neither management, none of us at that point in time were aware that any payment had been made. All we were aware when we came on board was that parts needed to be ordered. We were not aware that a payment had already been made….â€￾

Adolph Lucas,
“How were you able to know that payments were made?â€￾

Carlos Perrera,
“Long after and this document proves that no party would have been involved or aware of this because the only two persons that signed this document was this the stores manager and Mr. Knowles. But yes, there was a double payment signed off twice by Mr. Knowles.â€￾

More swipes were taken at the old administration when Dr. Alvaro Rosado took the oath this morning - his memory was still sketchy. He now remembered the payment to Pharmaco Limited but didn’t remember who signed it.

Adolph Lucas,
“Why did you sign a check for Pharmaco Limited because you are saying that you didn’t know about it?â€￾

Dr. Alvaro Rosado, Former CEO â€" KHMH
“I don’t know the company; I signed checks for lots of companies at the KHMH that I don’t know the company. The two signatures that appear there, I am saying that two years ago I recognized those signatures because based on them I signed the check but at this point in time I cannot tell you who the signatures belong to, expect for Dr. Ghazy because that signature I know.

I signed a check two years ago and two years ago I must have known who the signatures belong to. Now, two years later, I cannot tell you who the signatures belong to. Now, at this point in time. But when I signed that check I must have known who they belonged to.â€￾

Orvin Nicholas,
“In that same token do you think you must have known who you are paying to?â€￾

Dr. Alvaro Rosado,
“No sir.â€￾

Cecil Knowles, Former Director of Finance â€" KHMH
“This check was not made to any individual, it was made to Pharmacol Limited. If some thing was awry then, this check would have been made to some individual or somebody. I in no way in the powers that I have, could I be aware if a company that I am sending a payment to is legitimately registered.â€￾

And then there is the Venezuela million. Rosado and his former finance director maintained it wasn’t used to buy medical supplies.

Dr. Alvaro Rosado,
“There is a file at the KHMH for the Venezuela grants. I am surprised, like I mentioned the last time, mildly amused, very surprised that you have not been able to get those documents. There is a file titled Venezuela Grant. Those documents are there. They are selecting things to send out here.â€￾

Adolph Lucas,
“So it is a coincident, a striking one too, that there was a million sent by Finance independent of the Venezuela grant, another million devoid from the Venezuela grant. Am I to understand you saying that?â€￾

Dr. Alvaro Rosado,
“It could be coincidental and I think for the third time I am stating we have the records. The records are at the KHMH.â€￾

Carlos Perrera,
“There are no documents hidden. At no point in time was there any additional million granted to KHMH by the Ministry of Finance. There was only one million dollars issued to the Ministry of Finance, the documents that I have submitted to the commission shows that it was a $700,000 and $300,000 payment combined paid into KHMH and KHMH has only received one million dollars over the last five years in regards to any capital funds, any major grants to the institution.â€￾

Adolph Lucas,
“Can you say in rebuttal to what Perrera said, he there is no other million dollars apart from the Venezuela grant?â€￾

Cecil Knowles,
“Well I can agree with Mr. Perrera that there is no other million dollars that the KHMH did receive or should have received during that period.â€￾

Adolph Lucas,
“Did you get the impression that they were two million; one Venezuelan grant and another million from the Ministry of Finance or somewhere else?â€￾

Cecil Knowles,
“I am saying there was no two separate million dollars.â€￾

The commission’s work is far from over according to Chairman Lucas. He says that he along with Commissioners Julia Castillo and Orvin Nicholas will now work on their report. No time frame was given and he noted that there could be dissenting reports. That means that just like with the DFC Commission Report, if one Commissioner disagrees with what’s in the official report â€" he or she can submit their own to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Dean Barrow appointed the commission in July after a standoff between doctors and administration at the KHMH. The doctors alleged corruption and initiated go slows. Chairman Ricardo Fabro was forced to step aside and Prime Minister Barrow appointed his first Commission of Inquiry.

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