They used to be called public health clinics and public hospitals, but now under NHI those facilities are called primary care providers or “PCPs” for short. And today at the Social Security Building in Belize City, the Ministry of Health signed contracts with those public facilities – as a major first step in rolling out NHI. Contradicting what one NHI Committee Member said on this newscast last week, that government did not have the $40 million per year it will take to finance NHI, Health Minister Joe Coye stressed that NHI can be paid for through the consolidated fund and from petroleum revenues.
But for all that posturing, today’s signing with the public providers was largely symbolic; the big event takes place on January ninth when the private sector contracts will be signed. Those commit and bind government to 5 year contracts worth tens of millions of dollars.
