Dear Editor,
Remote MD is a US-owned company headquartered in New Orleans; Remote MD is quartered locally in St. Joseph’s Hospital and staffed with Guyanese doctors. The company has secured service contracts for most of the ExxonMobil contractors for mainly expatriate workers. The Guyanese doctors are paid a local-rate salary (approx. 2500 USD monthly) and a small percentage on each patient examined, however, Remote MD bills at United States medical rates, lead to bills above 9000 USD per patient per visit.
Medical costs are submitted by Exxon for recovery. The local doctors are undoubtedly grateful for the opportunity and must believe they are adequately compensated but the level of profit on their services must also be cause for discomfort. Remote MD is a seasoned operator in the global oil & gas industry and their practice exposes the need for urgent regulation of local content to protect Guyanese working for foreign companies and also to provide information to those doing the cost-recovery audits.
Sincerely,
(Name and address supplied)
