Hoyte’s medical expenses were not paid for by government

Dear Editor,

I refer to Sunday Stabroek editorial of March 1, 2015, paragraph six of which reads as follows: “Just to put things into context, in a letter to this newspaper in 2011, the Prime Minister wrote: ‘The records would show that the coverage for medical care was another discretion extended humanely, and provided to every single former president.’ He was referring to Arthur Chung and Desmond Hoyte, the latter of whom had a coronary bypass.”

I am sure that the Prime Minister intended to submit an accurate record of all the former presidents who had benefited from the assistance of the government in covering their medical expenses. But it seemed that the source which provided the information was either mistaken or the victim of inaccurate information. I know from talking to Mr Hoyte himself after he returned from the US and after he had been hospitalised and had undergone heart surgery that the government did not defray the cost of his treatment in the early part of 1994. I could have challenged the Prime Minister’s assertion the moment the editorial appeared, but I thought it the better part of wisdom to check with Mr Hoyte’s doctor in the US who had arranged his hospitalisation and surgery. That person is Dr Noel Blackman.

Dr Blackman has confirmed that the Government of Guyana did not underwrite the cost of Mr Hoyte’s heart surgery. The cost was settled through a private arrangement.

Yours faithfully,

R M Austin