Health Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin has refuted claims she misled the public about the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre, maintaining that the facility was not profitable.

Shadow Health Minister Zane DeSilva alleged a $104,000 surplus in the 2012/13 fiscal year and another surplus this year showed the facility was in the black, but Ms Gordon-Pamplin said the figures failed to take into account all of the operating costs of the facility.

Addressing the issue in the House of Assembly, Ms Gordon-Pamplin said: “By way of an analogy, if one gets a pay cheque, they have money in the bank. However when rent, electricity and food have been paid out of that money, there is far less left and one may even have to borrow to make ends meet. That is the condition of the ‘surplus.’”

The Bermuda Hospitals Board announced on October 31 it would be closing the facility on November 29, citing four consecutive years of loss.

However, the decision sparked a public outcry, causing the Government to announce it would be keeping the facility open until an alternative plan is determined.

Asked why she had not initially announced the 2012/13 and 2013/14 surpluses alongside the 2009/10, 2010/11 and unaudited 2011/12 fiscal year results, which showed six-figure losses, she said the figures would have been misleading to the public.

She also clarified that the UCC was not operating at a $250,000 annual loss, but the BHB would save $250,000 by closing the facility.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin said that she had no reservations with the BHB’s decision to close the facility because she understood the hospitals’ financial position, but added that had she had been told of the decision sooner she could have carried out consultation, which may have changed her opinion.

She said Government are committed to finding a solution with or without BHB involvement, and reiterated that the facility will remain open until an alternative plan is worked out.

“The BHB may or may not be able to carry on the facilities there,” she said. “A solution may be BHB included or it may not be BHB included. If another entity is able to provide effective services to take care of the needs of the people of the east end, then that’s a model that has to be examined.”

Asked if she has been in discussions with outside parties about possibly taking over the facility, she said: “The only interest that I have been made aware of thus far is the contacts that I have made with foreign entities and the proviso was that if anybody considered coming in, that there would have to be a local component.”

She said she has spoken to people related to the American Cancer Society and others about possibly utilising Bermuda as a venue during a visit to the World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress, but stressed: “Nothing has been defined, nothing has been confirmed, there have been no RFPs, so all of that will have to be considered.

“One thing that has always been said is we are looking for a solution that includes access by people of the east end, and the access would be the access that they need. We will look at many options, the BHB will look at many options, but the model will develop.”

However, Ms Gordon-Pamplin surged members of the public who are experiencing a life-threatening emergency to go directly to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital rather than the UCC, saying: “Urgent time can be lost.”