The KHMH is the national referral hospital for Belize - and recently we've documented their successes with open heart and spine surgeries.
But it doesn't come cheap - and most of the services at the hospital are heavily subsidized.
But the free ride is over; the subsidies will remain, but the hospital is implementing new fees.
7news sat down with CEO Gary Longsworth who explained these minimal flat fees that go into effect November 1st.
Dr. Francis Gary Longsworth - CEO, KHMH
"Over the last several years we have done a great deal to improve the existing services at the KHMH and it that regard we've invested a lot in staffing, equipment and we have upgraded a lot of the procedures that we do and we've also gone into the expansion of services where we are looking at new areas of service and this includes cardiology; where we have now gone in the area of cardiac surgery and the attendant services of cardiac catheterization, echocardiography and so on."
"The same thing has happen in pediatrics; where the demand for pediatric intensive care unit has been on the table for a long time and thanks to help from the special envoy for children Mrs. Kim Slmplis Barrow, we have that project on the board now for full implementation and that will include building a NICU facility on the grounds of the Karl Heusner. When you take into consideration all that we've done so far in improving the existing services and the expansions that we have gone into and what we plan to do. This is setting the stage for Karl Heusner to be the premier institution for tertiary care in Belize."
"I think we've achieve a great deal already but we are not perfect and it will always be evolving in responds to need. That where we are and that bring attendant cost to the hospital. Our budget is never sufficient; we are regularly routinely under-budgeted at this hospital."
"Thankfully as a statutory organization revenue collection can augment our budget and that's the whole trust that we are going into now where in order to sustain what we've accomplish so far and in order to take it to the next level we need to improve our revenue collections to make up the short falls and that's the whole reasons for really re-introduction of the fees at accident and emergency and introduction of pharmacy fees to assist us in that area."
"The A & E is really for emergencies and anybody who has been there on a Friday or a Saturday night will tell you that we get a lot of major emergencies coming in. There is also a walk in trade that has become established at the Accident and Emergency and many of those people could really be better serve outside of the KHMH but they have their preferences and they get use to coming in for everything - they believe that the KHMH is the place to go. We are glad for that confidence in the institution but at the same time when the major emergencies are there it means that those people have to wait because they are none urgent. If they were to go to their public health facility they would get through there and be home in time and they wouldn't have to go through all the issues that happen in an accident and emergency department. So we are trying to encourage people, we are saying use your primary care facilities outside of the hospital. If you have to come then we are saying that we are going to charge a small administrative fee for the services that we offer to none urgent cases."
Longsworth also mentioned in his interview that no one will be refused services at the KHMH on the basis of inability to pay.
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