Iraq ends Apex Health’s hospital management deals in two provinces
- Iraq’s Health Ministry is not renewing Apex Health’s hospital contracts in Karbala and Dhi Qar.
- A specialist ministry committee is taking over management of the hospitals Apex Health operated.
- A Dhi Qar council official says Apex Health received 6 to 7 billion dinars monthly.
- Iraq’s Health Ministry cites goals of improving services and cutting operating costs.
DHI QAR, IRAQ — Iraq’s Health Ministry is taking back the management of hospitals in Karbala and Dhi Qar provinces from Qatar-based Apex Health, after deciding not to renew the company’s contracts.
Health Minister Abdul Hussein al-Mousawi said he had ordered a specialist committee to take over the management of the hospitals Apex Health had operated.
Ministry cites costs and services
The decision came after a review of the joint-operation agreements, al-Mousawi said on Oct. 29, as reported by Shafaq News.
He cited the ministry’s goals of improving health services, reducing operating costs and aligning hospital management with government priorities.
Council backs the cancellation
In Dhi Qar, the Provincial Council has backed cancelling Apex Health’s contract to operate the Turkish Hospital in Nasiriyah, calling the agreement excessively costly.
Abdul Baqi Kadhim, head of the council’s Integrity Committee, said the company received between 6 billion and 7 billion dinars ($3.95M to $4.61M) a month, whether or not it operated the hospital.
Kadhim said the monthly payment was expected to fall to 1.6 billion dinars, or about $1.05M.
He said the cancellation served residents’ interests and protected public funds.
Who signed the deal
Not every council committee had a hand in it. Ahmed al-Khafaji, head of the council’s Health Committee, said his committee was not involved in either the contract or its cancellation.
He said the Health Ministry had signed the agreement and was responsible for ending it.
A ministry committee takes over
The move puts the hospitals Apex Health operated in Karbala and Dhi Qar under a committee appointed by the minister, in place of a private operator.
What it means for providers
For operators that run public hospitals under contract, the case shows how a fixed monthly fee can draw scrutiny once a government reviews what it is paying for and what it gets in return.
Kadhim’s complaint centered on payments that continued whether or not the hospital was operated, a term that buyers of healthcare outsourcing and other managed services often tie to service levels instead.
On Kadhim’s figures, the expected payment of 1.6 billion dinars is roughly a quarter of what the company had been receiving each month.
The case also shows how many public bodies can weigh in on one contract. The ministry signed and ended the deal, while the provincial council backed cancelling it as too costly.
Health systems weighing an outside operator can review contract models in OA’s ultimate guide to outsourcing.
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