Money being paid out to “ghost employee” accounts was among internal issues brought to the attention of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) board, which served from November 2022 to December 2023.

This was disclosed during today’s meeting of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

UHWI representatives, past and current, are appearing before the PAC after the hospital was flagged for several procurement breaches, including the misuse of its tax exemption status to facilitate the importation of goods on behalf of private companies.

Former board chair Wayne Chai Chong and chair of the audit sub-committee of the UHWI board Catherine Parke Thwaites attended today’s meeting.

Mrs. Thwaites said payroll, procurement, custody of fixed assets and planning were the 4 problematic areas reported by the UHWI internal audit department.

PAC Chairman Julian Robinson asked  how many ghost employee accounts benefitted and how much money was paid out.

The response revealed that litigation was initiated to recover some of the funds.

Mr. Robinson then asked if the external audit was done.

In response, Mrs. Thwaites said up to September 2023 management had not put the auditors in place to do the 100 per cent check of the payroll.

The PAC Chairman directed the question to acting Chief Executive Officer of the hospital Eric Hosin, who said further investigations will be done.