The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) board of management on Tuesday said it has reported to the police fraud squad and Jamaica Customs specific matters from the Auditor General’s Department’s (AGD) audit report which flagged the hospital for a raft of contract procurement breaches and misuse of its tax-exempt status, for the benefit of private companies, which have cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars.

The board made the revelation hours after the AGD’s audit performance report, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, said its probe “revealed considerable deficiencies in UHWI’s governance, procurement, and contract management processes” which, if not addressed, ”could increase the risk of corruption and undermine UHWI’s ability to deliver quality health care services”.

“With the tabling of the report, the board has moved to further accelerate and formalise actions that were already underway. A comprehensive review of all procurement systems referenced in the report has been directed, with a focus on identifying root causes and strengthening controls to safeguard transparency, compliance, and value for money. Management has been instructed to regularise or suspend affected arrangements where appropriate and to reinforce oversight and compliance mechanisms without delay,” the UHWI board said in a late evening news release.

“The matters raised in the report, together with management’s initial responses, were discussed at a recent meeting of the UHWI Audit Committee. The committee has requested that the Internal Audit Department conduct a formal audit of the strengthened procedures and advise on any additional measures required to ensure their effectiveness. Where the report identifies matters requiring further internal review, the appropriate board committees have been mandated to examine those issues and make recommendations in accordance with established procedures and applicable laws governing public bodies, ensuring that due process is observed at all times,” the UHWI board added.

The AGD said the audit reviewed the period 2019-2020 to 2024-2025 but included data before and after the time frame to gain greater insights and broaden its “understanding of terms, patterns and factors that could have influenced the outcome within the specified period”.

According to the report, UHWI misused its tax-exempt status to import goods for four private companies, which it identified as companies 1, 2, 3, and 4, resulting in losses totalling $23.1 million.

“Customs records showed that items such as office furniture, laundry and medical equipment were declared as hospital imports, but inventory records confirmed these were not acquired by the hospital and were instead obtained by private entities,” the audit report sated.

“This misrepresentation breached the Customs Act, resulting in over $20 million in unpaid import duties,” the AGD said, pointing out that false declarations on Customs documents are subject to fines or prosecution.

Breaking down the imports, the AGD said the laundry equipment, valued at approximately $28 million for private company 1, resulted in a revenue loss of $6.6 million, with UHWI paying the remaining import duties and charges of $1.9 million, bringing to total loss to $8.5 million.

In relation to the office furniture and medical equipment valued at $40.6 million, the AGD said they were imported for private companies 2 and 3. The report also said that cups and dishes worth $1.41 million were imported for both companies, resulting to revenue losses of $10.7 million.

“Additionally, UHWI enabled the import of 40 waste bins for private company 4, valued at $6.6 million, saving the company $3 million in Customs duties. UHWI then purchased the bins for $11 million and covered the remaining import duties and charges of $980,049,” the audit report stated.

The report stated that the overall cost insurance and freight value of the imports and the procurement activities totalled $76 million with a total tax revenue forgone of $20.3 million, in addition to $2.9 million in remaining taxes and additional charges incurred by the hospital.

The AGD said that UHWI, in its initial management response in August 2025, “confirmed that it had ceased facilitating imports for private entities using its tax-exempt status”.

Additionally, the hospital acknowledged that the practice violated public trust and procurement law.

The AGD also reported that in October 2025 UHWI reiterated its acceptance of the audit findings, “pending further investigations, and stated it was seeking the most suitable measures to prevent a recurrence of such activities”.

The audit also stated that UHWI “could not provide procurement documentation for 51 contracts for various projects valuing $521 million, thus preventing a thorough review of whether the transactions met the standards for transparency, accountability and value for money”.

The contracts were granted to 10 contractors whom the report identified only by numbers, as well as private company 4, and one consultant.

Contractor 1 received three contracts valued at $50.7 million; contractor 2, four contracts amounting to $51.7 million; contractor 3 with three contracts valued $51.9 million; contractor 4 with four contracts totalling $31.8 million; contractor 5 awarded five contracts amounting to $50.4 million; contractor 6 with seven contracts valued at $46.2 million; contractor 7 with 10 contracts valued at $80.5 million; contractor 8 awarded 11 contracts totalling $67.8 million; contractor 12 with 1 contract valued at $18 million; contractor 13 received one contract valued $6.3 million, while private company 4 and consultant 1 each received one contract amounting to $51.1 million and $14.3 million, respectively.

Among the breaches uncovered by the audit was the use of what the AGD termed “after-the-fact processes to validate works and services already executed”.

That process, the AGD explained, invited suppliers to bid for the supply of goods and the execution of works that had already been supplied or completed.

“In these cases the bid invitation implied that a legitimate competitive procurement process had taken place. The intended outcome was to select suppliers who had previously provided the goods or completed the work, which was indeed the case in these instances,” the AGD said.

“This action by UHWI served to corrupt the process engaged to procure goods, services and works,” the report added.

The audit also said the hospital bypassed proper procurement procedures when it engaged a consultancy firm for administrative services related to the hospital’s redevelopment. In that instance, payments totalling $13.6 million were made before a formal contract was signed and crucial supporting documents, such as fee proposals, were not provided, the AGD stated.

The audit report noted that the consultant was selected based on prior experience, but there was no evidence of a competitive process.

It added that the consultant completed the work and invoiced $22.5 million before a formal contract had been signed, a second invoice of $7.5 million was submitted on March 27, 2025.

The AGD also listed 12 instances of UHWI dividing works in to smaller segments “thereby circumventing the mandatory procurement methodology and approval process designed to provide increased oversight”.

In its response on Tuesday, the UHWI board also said it has approved the CEO’s application for three months’ leave from his accrued leave entitlement.

“This decision was taken both to address an extensive leave backlog and to facilitate the independent conduct of the reviews and processes now underway, without any perception of influence,” the board said.

It added that in a move to ensure continuity of leadership and operations during this period, it has appointed Eric Hosin, a recently appointed board member and former president and CEO of Guardian Life Jamaica, to act in the role.

University Hospital of the West Indies has been flagged for a raft of contract procurement breaches and misuse of its tax-exempt status, for the benefit of private companies, which have cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars.