fp Turks and Caicos

Capes went into great lengths to explain the vetting process InterHealth went through before receiving the contract, validating them as a legitimate organization with the experience and skills required to both construct and administrate the new hospitals. In addition, Capes stated that, “No individual, firm or company with any connection to past or present administrations in the TCI has ever had any interest, whether direct or indirect, in the company or in any part of its business in any part of the world.”

InterHealth Canada was selected based on a transparent bid process tendered strictly in accordance with European Public Procurement Rules, which included a lengthy Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, which called for extensive details of their corporate status, shareholders, directors and officers, their relevant experience, their approach to the provision of relevant aspects of healthcare and their financial standing. The responses were evaluated by independent organizations, such as Price Waterhouse Coopers, Eversheds (a UK based international law firm with very considerable expertise in the field), Arup and Nightingales (a UK based firm of architects with very considerable experience in the design of hospitals).

Capes says at every step of the Bid process, TCIG and its representatives were assisted by independent external advisors and that the contract was awarded on the basis of a set of criteria which included experience, competence, quality of service, ability to arrange the required finance and overall value for money.

“The successful Bid had to meet affordability criteria and Price Waterhouse Coopers was required to report regularly to the TCIG that such affordability criteria were being met – a key requirement of the contract approval process,” Capes stated.

InterHealth Canada’s successful bid included proposed subcontractors for the construction component of the Project. These included Devereux Architects of the UK, Johnston International from TCI and Rotary International, also of the UK. It follows that all the members of the InterHealth bid team collectively responded to the same competitive process as all other bidders.

Capes also points out that the capital component of the contract is financed strictly in accordance with the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) principles established in the United Kingdom. “Not only were all capital budgets and costs approved by the TCIG’s financial advisors, but they had to be approved as individual line items by the Technical Advisors to the funding banks and institutions on the basis of fair value for money before the relevant loan funds would be made available to the Project.”

He says any suggestion that the costs are inflated is “rejected and implies a lack of care by the TCIG’s external advisors initially and by the Technical Advisors to the funders throughout the implementation programme. Moreover the Project Agreement clearly transfers all risks of cost overruns to InterHealth Canada after Financial Close. TCIG bears no risk.”

Capes also confirmed that to date, no operational sub contracts have been awarded for either of the two new hospitals and that all those contracts will go through a similar rigorous bidding process, to ensure that we can be satisfied that the selected supplier will provide fair value for money. “Any suggestion that anyone associated in any way with any previous administration in the TCI stands to gain from the operating income of InterHealth Canada, whether that income is derived from the TCI hospitals contract or elsewhere in the world, is utterly refuted.”