Miami firm sues Turks and Caicos

A Miami company that arranged medical care for seriously ill people from the Turks and Caicos Islands is now suing the government there for $16 million over claims it stopped paying bills for the company's services.

Southern Health Network Inc. had a contract with the islands to set up treatment, transportation and lodging for people needing U.S. medical care. Turks and Caicos, a British territory south of the Bahamas, has about 23,000 people on eight inhabited islands, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Southern Health President Henry Givens said the payment problems began as political turmoil worsened earlier this year in the islands. Former premier Michael Misick resigned in March amid a wide-ranging corruption investigation. Then, on April 1, the Turks and Caicos abruptly canceled the Southern Health contract with promises the medical bills would be paid.

"No money has changed hands," Givens said. "We're still hoping, and we're open to working something out with them if they come to the table in good faith."

Royal Robinson, deputy premier and health minister for the Turks and Caicos, said he was aware of the lawsuit but the government has not yet been served with the legal papers. It was filed in June in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.

"Until we have received formal notice of the lawsuit I cannot comment on it," he said Tuesday.

Givens said Southern Health arranged care for hundreds of islanders over a three-year period, chartering airplanes to bring to the U.S. people with critical needs such as kidney dialysis when the Turks and Caicos were without electricity for weeks following Hurricane Ike last year.

Most of the islanders sought care in the U.S. for illnesses or injuries that couldn't adequately be treated at home.

"It's unfortunate because the services were so badly needed," Givens said. "It affects other international patients coming from the Caribbean because many of the providers get shell-shocked."

As many as 300 U.S. medical care vendors are owed money from the Turks and Caicos through the Southern Health contract, Givens said. The $16 million figure comes from all those outstanding bills combined, he said, adding that the Turks and Caicos problem could jeopardize his company's future relationships with those vendors.

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Associated Press writer Mike Melia in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this story.