An investigation has been launched at two of the nation's premier hospitals in response to reports of overcharging of fees at health facilities islandwide, the Ministry of Health has announced.

In response to The Gleaner's revelation yesterday that several financially-strapped hospitals and clinics were breaking the law by overcharging their patients, the Health Ministry also said it would be calling for Auditor General Adrian Strachan to probe the books of all government hospitals.

The Health Ministry said it would be dispatching a team of auditors to investigate the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and the Victoria Jubilee Hospital.

There was no indication that health centres would be audited.

Patients overcharged

Yesterday The Gleaner reported that, based on a review done by consultants from the New York-based DAH Consulting, Inc., patients were overcharged to improve the financial standing of the institutions.

"Some hospitals and clinics build their coffers by charging more than the gazetted amount for services rendered," the document read.

A report on the KPH and Victoria Jubilee should be presented to Dr. Grace Allen-Young, Permanent Secretary in the Health Ministry, within one week.

Additionally, the chief executive officers of both hospitals have been instructed to account for the alleged breaches and to take disciplinary action against those responsible.

Yesterday Dr. John Harvey of DAH Consulting, the lead investigator responsible for the report, told The Gleaner that the agency's research methodology was presented in the document and included interviews, observations and reviews of documents.

"Chapter six of the report describes the region by region attempts at meeting revenue shortfalls, and the role of user fees," Dr. Harvey said. "It addresses the attempts by hospital administrators to continue to offer services in an environment where needs are greater than the available supply of resources."

He noted that the exact mark-up over gazetted fees was not documented.