Shadow Health Minister Kim Young last night urged Government to investigate why Bermuda Hospital's Board (BHB) seemed unable to operate within its budget.

During the budget debate on health in the House of Assembly, she said the finances of the board seemed to be in trouble, and said she had heard there were serious problems.

She said: "Why does the Minister (Nelson Bascome) not investigate to find out why the hospital (board) cannot operate within its budget and appears to be in a mess.

"The hospital (board) had no chief financial officer for some time, therefore finances were in a mess.

"There are whispers in the community that the hospital was not paying its bills. "King Edward is getting $5 million more this year and St. Brendan's is getting more than $1 million more in allocations.'' Mrs. Young said she was not blaming anyone in particular, but felt the issue should be investigated.

And she said Minister without Portfolio Randy Horton , who read the hospital board's budget to the House, had made the hospitals sound great.

But she said many of the initiatives he had read to Parliament were not entirely new, and she said everything at the hospitals was not hunky-dory.

She asked when the hospital had last been accredited, and said the physical plant needed much attention.

Mr. Bascome said they were last accredited in 1999, which would last for three years.

Mrs. Young said: "The beds need replacing, the roofs leak, and the ER (emergency room) leaks nearly every time it rains.'' Mrs. Young said one of Government's and the board's main priorities should be getting the hospital in good physical shape.

Mr. Horton yesterday assisted Health Minister Nelson Bascome by announcing to the House how $71 million would be spent on Bermuda's two hospitals in the next year.

He said King Edward VII Memorial Hospital would receive $49 million and St.

Brendan's Hospital would be in receipt of $22 million.

He said the increases to the budgets were expected to address the projected increased costs of the hospitals' operations, including the increase in staff salaries, the expansion of services, and maintenance of equipment and physical facilities.

Mr. Horton said the hospitals were within their current budget for this year, but that it was mainly due to new strategies to contain and reduce the cost of hospital care by reducing the patients' length of stay in hospital.

He said: "I must quickly point out that the strategies the Bermuda Hospitals Board implemented have in no way compromised the quality of care provided to its clients, and it is the board's intention to continue to improve its efforts towards excellence.

"Part of the BHB's focus is the continued strengthening of the management systems in both hospitals.

"Programme management reflects one component of the change that is taking place and moving the hospitals towards greater efficiencies and effectiveness in their provision of comprehensive patient care.

"The hospitals are experiencing a marked improvement in the quality of care provided. This is due to better co-ordination and integration of a diverse range of services required by individual patients.'' But he said cash flow problems were still creating obstacles for the board.

"The BHB continues to be challenged by the shortfalls in revenue due to rates that are not reflective of the cost of service,'' he said.

"For example, the bed rates have not been addressed for many years.

Therefore, the in-patient rates that are currently charged to the insurance companies in no way equate to the cost of the quality, type and quantity of service provided.

"This limits the capacity of the hospitals to continually make the needed improvements to its plant and equipment, to facilitate new services that are required.'' But he said this did not hinder the board's determination to carry out its mandate of providing effective health care to the community.

Mr. Horton added: "Various strategies have been considered to deliver a high quality of health care services to the population and play a greater role in the health and wellbeing of Bermudians, and to also provide the revenue that is needed to maintain the appropriate service.'' And he said to this end, in the past year the board had expanded its diagnostic services and had employed three additional radiologists. And, he said, for the first time in many years, it had the full complement of staff, including four highly qualified radiologists, the full cadre of technicians and other staff required to provide the service.