Facing liquidation

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Monday January 17, 2011 00:00

 

Last Wednesday the High Court in Lobatse approved a petition by creditors to put Bokamoso Private Hospital Trust, the owners of the hospital, under Provisional Sequestration. In a statement confirming the latest events, Pula Medical Aid Fund said, 'In the interim the Provisional Trustees appointed by the Court shall be empowered to carry on and/or discontinue and/or suspend any part of the business of BPH'.

One lawyer, whose name cannot be revealed, explained that this means that the hospital has been put under court-appointed management either at the instruction of creditors or other reasons, to give it more life. 'It could be that the hospital is unable to pay debts or that the management is failing,' he said.

In the statement issued by Pula Medical Aid Fund, which owns 20 percent interest in the hospital, the organisation confirms that the Provisional Trustees appointed by the Court will operate and manage the hospital, as well as do all that is necessary in the best interest of all creditors, patients, BPH employees, beneficiaries, general public, government of Botswana and others. The Fund will continue to recognise the BPH as a service provider like all other private hospitals in Botswana and beyond our borders,' Pula Medical Aid Fund said in the statement.

Meanwhile, problems facing the hospital come at a time when government has assured the nation that it will not allow the hospital to close and that it will continue to support it. During the November meeting of Parliament, Assistant Minister of Health Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri stated that government hospitals have made referrals to Bokamoso Private Hospital for services not available at such hospitals.

'The cost is dependent on the availability of medical services at either Bokamoso Private Hospital or South Africa for services available in the country. As government policy, we refer locally before we consider outside referral. It is my ministry's view that an efficient and well-run Bokamoso Private Hospital can be an avenue to lure foreign Direct Investment to Botswana. However, this depends on Bokamoso Private Hospital offering services that are unavailable in the country,' Matlhabaphiri said on December 10, 2010. He was responding to a question in Parliament which wanted to know what government was doing to help Bokamoso survive the challenges it was facing.

Bokamoso Private Hospital was opened last year with the hope that it will provide specialised medical services to attract a significant number of patients locally and from abroad. The other investor in the hospital is Botswana Public Officers Medical Aid Scheme (BPOMAS), which is reportedly struggling to pay private doctors for services rendered to BPOMAS clients. BPOMAS has dismissed the reports as lies saying they have enough funds to pay for their clients. The hospital is said to be having state-of-the-art medical equipment that government hospitals do not have.