UHWI CEO Mitchell and former chairman Chai Chong among three to be summoned before PAC

University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) CEO Fitzgerald Mitchell, former CEO Kevin Allen, and ex-board chairman Wayne Chai Chong are to be summoned to a meeting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The committee approved Chairman Julian Robinson’s request on Tuesday. The PAC is reviewing an Auditor General’s Department report that identified a series of procurement breaches at the region’s premier teaching hospital.

The report made no adverse findings against the officials.

UHWI officials, led by Acting CEO Eric Hosin, and Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Errol Greene today made their second appearance before the committee since the report was released in January.

Following the report’s publication, the hospital said CEO Mitchell was on three months’ leave to facilitate independent investigations.

Mitchell, a former senior director of operations at UHWI, was appointed CEO in 2024 after acting in the role for two years.

A hospital statement at the time said he had been with the institution for more than 27 years.

Mitchell replaced Kevin Allen, a former senior director for finance, who was first appointed to act as CEO in 2015.

Chai Chong was appointed chairman in November 2022 but resigned in December 2023. Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton later dissolved the board and appointed businessman Patrick Hylton as chairman. The University of the West Indies also appoints members to the board.

Tufton cited “a clash of personalities and dysfunctionality” among the reasons for the move.

Chai Chong insisted the disagreements were over his board’s attempt at reform, including hiring a top-tier professional from abroad as CEO, as part of an effort to “improve the governance, management, and operational efficiency of the institution.”

He also said Tufton overruled a board decision to replace Mitchell as acting CEO with another senior official.

“This was a brave board, with members who were willing to tackle the issues which have for years been the source of the decline of the UHWI,” he said in a statement highlighting a series of concerns.

“The Internal Audit department identified a large number of concerns that management had not addressed, in some cases with action items outstanding and overdue for three years.”

Among the issues he noted were serious weaknesses in UHWI’s operations, including procurement irregularities in contract awards and purchasing practices, as well as suspected payroll fraud that he said had already led to arrests and remains under investigation.

Chai Chong also flagged deficiencies in accounts, billing, and collections, “where in excess of 30% of the potential billing revenue of the hospital was either being written off or not collected.”

Last week, in response to the Auditor General’s findings, Tufton said the issues at the hospital “have long legacies” and are linked to a “dysfunctional culture within the university system,” adding that removing individuals would not be sufficient.

The special audit report revealed that UHWI awarded $521 million in contracts despite failing to provide essential procurement documentation. It also highlighted systemic breaches of government guidelines, including unapproved contract variations and missing records.

The audit further cited after-the-fact bidding and the alleged misuse of tax exemptions to import items for four private companies: JACDEN Group of Companies, Supreme Laundry Services, Scientific Medical Services, and Willman Sales Company Limited.

JACDEN CEO Dennis Gordon, a Member of Parliament for the Opposition People’s National Party, has faced growing pressure to resign. He has rejected allegations of misconduct, saying JACDEN has repaid funds that should have been paid for the importation of office furniture and more than a dozen dialysis machines in 2024.

The governing Jamaica Labour Party has insisted he should resign from Parliament.

Tufton has appointed a committee to review UHWI’s governance arrangements and operations and to produce recommendations for change within four months.

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