Bermuda Hospitals Board has rejected an overseas consultant’s claim that he is owed $70,000 after being “frozen out” of a medical tourism initiative on the Island.David Green, of IHI Consulting International in Ontario, claims he came up with an idea for a Betty Ford-style rehabilitation clinic for the Island, and had a verbal agreement with Donald Thomas, the former chief of staff at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, to launch the initiative.Mr Green complained in April last year to BHB chief executive officer Venetta Symonds that he’d been cut out of the scheme and was still owed consultancy fees for the work he did for BHB and its subsidiary Healthcare Partners Ltd (HPL).Ms Symonds told him BHB had no signed agreement with his consulting firm.Dr Thomas was suspended from his post in July last year after concerns were raised, according to BHB, about a “failure to follow directions, questions regarding financial stewardship, lack of attention to quality of care and a pre-employment background check”.An investigation was launched into his conduct but was later ditched after he resigned. Mr Green asked BHB to look into his claim again in light of Dr Thomas’s suspension and a probe into HPL by Ontario-based consultants Howard Associates (HA).He received a letter on Monday from BHB chairman Jonathan Brewin, who was appointed in January, telling him that the government’s Department of Internal Audit had reviewed his claim and found “no valid and enforceable oral agreement in place” nor an “executed valid and enforceable written agreement”.Mr Brewin wrote: “There was no evidence that any misrepresentation took place on the part of BHB, or Dr Thomas, or that you were misled or lied to at any time by anyone representing, or with the authority to represent, BHB.“Therefore, we can conclude that there is no basis, or obligation, for any negotiation with, or payment to, yourself or your company.”Mr Green told The Royal Gazette he planned to pursue the claim, and would be contacting the UK Health Ministry, and the Minister responsible for the Overseas Territories.He added: “I will also, if I have to, take this to the courts as a local benefactor on Bermuda, who is familiar with my case...has expressed an interest in funding an action on my behalf.”Mr Green said the recent clinical governance review of BHB conducted by Howard Associates should have looked at his complaint, on the instructions of the Ombudsman, but failed to do so.He e-mailed Health Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin on Tuesday to say he, his wife, and children were “absolutely inconsolable” at Mr Brewin’s response.Ombudsman Arlene Brock confirmed today that in November and December 2012, and again in January this year, her office detailed Mr Green’s and four other individual complaints to Howard Associates.She said: “[We] reminded and questioned HA about their progress with this. On February 18, HA concluded that interest in HPL was overblown.“We strongly urged HA to review its conclusion and again urged them to probe into the HPL business. At the end, HA moderated its conclusion but failed to address the individual complaints.”Ms Brock said she would immediately request the report completed by the Department of Internal Audit on the claim and would review it to determine whether to make her own inquiries.A BHB spokeswoman said it had no further comment to add to Mr Brewin’s letter.The Howard Associates report said medical tourism “could be an important business opportunity for Bermuda and [was] one that should be explored in conjunction with the Tourism Authority”.It found that loss-making HPL, which is being shut down, had “not been managed well by BHB”.* Useful websites: www.bhb.bm and www.ombudsman.bm.