Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, Michael Khan has been asked to proceed on leave in order to facilitate investigations into the procurement and storage of medication and medical supplies at the corporation.
This is according to Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton who told Stabroek News last evening that it was at the suggestion of auditors that Khan was asked to proceed on leave.
Norton noted that since the APNU+AFC government took office they have made “efforts to have forensic audits of several government departments and ministries including the GPHC and the Ministry of Health (MoH).”
According to the Minister, the audit report for the MoH recommended that the Permanent Secretary be asked to take the leave he had accumulated. Similarly the audit of the GPHC which was recently concluded has recommended that the CEO be asked to proceed on leave.
“It is the general policy of the new government not to allow workers to accumulate leave so Khan has been asked to proceed on leave both for this reason and to facilitate further investigations into the procurement and storage of medication and medical supplies,” Norton explained
Specific concerns have been raised by the auditors about the stocking and management of a MoH bond.
During Khan’s leave which the Minister notes is in excess of 60 days, Allan Johnson the CEO of the New Amsterdam Hospital will be performing the duties of CEO at GPHC.
When asked if Khan will return to his post after his leave, Norton responded “We would prefer to depend on the results of the audit before making that decision. We can’t preempt the results.”
Khan was not at work yesterday and efforts by Stabroek News to contact him for comment failed.
