JFL Executives Come Under Fire For Missing Accounting of Millions of Dollars, Failure to Document Settlement and Lack of Employer Contributions to GERS

Executives at the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center were subject to intense scrutiny during Tuesday’s budget hearing before the Committee on Finance, for being unable to fully reconcile with its creditors and to provide documentation for settlement agreements even after sufficient funds were appropriated by the government in the last budget.

Greg Bryant, chief information officer at JFL, told lawmakers that he was not aware that $4 million had been made available by the government to settle payment for Medi Tech Expanse — an automated clinical decision support system — until recently.

“We were not aware of the $4 million. I started doing searching last week for that appropriation,” Mr. Bryant said. He added that he had “checked the books” at the hospital along with a colleague and had not “seen that money at all”.

“I have been at that hospital now for 18 months, $4 million has not crossed my desk at all,” Mr. Bryant recalled.

The hospital had also been unable to properly document a settlement with Medical Imaging Inc. for a second and final payment of $250,000, which would complete a $4.7 million settlement.

Rosalie Javois, JFL's interim executive vice president of finance explained that she needed documentation, which she requested last week, to be able to write off the debt from a financial best practice stand point.

Monies for retirees under the Government Employees’ Retirement System program have also not been disbursed due to what hospital officials said was a technical issue with identifying the recipients.

"The monies are there,” Ms. Javois said, telling lawmakers that “they are in the process of trickling down” but that she needed to sit with G.E.R.S. to find out who they have on record and who they do not.

Senator Kurt Vialet, who chairs the Committee on Finance, urged hospital executives to come up with a process to deal with those who retire now.

"This isn't a money issue, this is a documentation issue," he noted, recommending to the hospital that it locates the outstanding employer contribution for retirees and advise G.E.R.S. to draw it from the lump sum of money that was appropriated over a year ago.

Senator Novelle Francis also noted that some level of documentation must be maintained as governments are elected and toppled.

“We understand that people come and go but we should not be fighting ourselves, having the same discussions over and over and over,” he said.

The sentiments of the other senators were echoed by Senator Kenneth Gittens, who gave a stern warning that there is no excuse for the lack of documentation, functionality or transparency within the institution.