A major financial and compliance crisis has emerged at Jamaica’s leading public healthcare institution, the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), with lawmakers on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) learning Tuesday that the facility carries more than JMD $40 billion in unpaid tax obligations — and has no formal structured plan to repay the massive debt, all while operating on an expiring temporary Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC).
The stunning disclosure was made during the PAC’s ongoing review of a damning auditor general’s report into questionable procurement practices at the hospital, opening a new front of scrutiny over the institution’s long-term financial management and failure to meet core statutory requirements.
Appearing before the committee to answer questions from PAC Chair Julian Robinson, UHWI Acting Chief Executive Officer Eric Hosin confirmed the staggering scale of the outstanding arrears. Hosin clarified that the full $40 billion sum includes years of accumulated compound interest and late payment penalties, with the underlying pre-penalty principal amount of the debt sitting at approximately $18 billion.
The revelation immediately sparked urgent concern among committee members, who zeroed in on whether statutory payroll deductions taken directly from UHWI employees’ salaries — including contributions to the National Housing Trust (NHT) and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) — had actually been remitted to the relevant government agencies as required by law. Robinson highlighted the direct, tangible harm this could inflict on ordinary hospital workers if the funds had been withheld.
“It would be important for us to know, particularly on the employee side, because this would impact people who might go to NHT seeking a benefit, people who are retired and would go to the NIS office and can’t get a benefit,” Robinson told the hearing.
Hosin moved quickly to reassure the committee that no current UHWI employees have faced negative consequences from the debt crisis, confirming that the hospital is now fully up to date on all monthly NHT and NIS contribution remittances. He explained that the facility’s ongoing cash flow crisis only affects older outstanding tax obligations, noting “we don’t have enough money to pay the other tax obligations.” Those unpaid older obligations include outstanding income tax and education tax payments, Hosin added.
Lawmakers continued to press for answers on how such a massive debt could build up largely unchecked over time. Hosin acknowledged the arrears stretch back multiple years, but he was unable to provide the committee with a precise timeline for when the debt began to accumulate during Tuesday’s sitting.
Adding to lawmakers’ alarm is the hospital’s shaky tax compliance status. Despite owing tens of billions in unpaid taxes, Hosin confirmed UHWI is currently operating on a temporary TCC that is set to expire on May 6. Most worryingly for the committee, Hosin admitted the hospital has not negotiated any formal repayment agreement with Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) to resolve the outstanding debt — a requirement for most entities with large tax arrears seeking to retain compliance status.
Robinson questioned how the hospital could be granted any form of compliant status without a structured repayment plan in place, noting that standard regulatory protocols would require such an arrangement for any organization carrying major unpaid tax obligations.
In response, Hosin explained that negotiations to resolve the debt are still in their very early stages. He outlined that UHWI’s leadership plans to first consult with the Ministry of Health and Wellness before approaching the Ministry of Finance to discuss potential pathways forward, including possible relief for the accumulated interest and penalties tied to the original debt.
Hosin also revealed that UHWI operated for an extended period without any valid TCC at all, though he again could not provide a clear timeline for how long that status lasted. That additional revelation raised fresh questions about the hospital’s ability to legally import critical medical supplies independently, and ties back to earlier audit findings that the facility’s tax-exempt status was misused for private business transactions involving third-party entities.
Chairman Robinson stressed that pinning down how long UHWI has operated without full tax compliance is a critical part of the PAC’s ongoing investigation, particularly as the committee probes whether the failure to meet statutory obligations is connected to the procurement irregularities already under review.
Robinson also called for a full, itemized breakdown of the $40 billion debt, so lawmakers can clearly distinguish what portion of the liability stems from unpaid employee payroll deductions like NHT and NIS versus other unpaid tax types.
While Hosin repeatedly reiterated that current employees have not been impacted by the backlog, noting the hospital is current on monthly contributions and has put safeguards in place to ensure no worker is denied rightful benefits, Robinson remained firm that the committee will not move forward without a full comprehensive ageing report that details when each portion of the debt was accumulated and breaks down every component of the total liability. The PAC’s investigation into both the procurement irregularities and the broader tax debt crisis is ongoing.