The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Doctors Hospital plans to slash the deposit requirement for patients to access its emergency room services by one-third after cutting losses on unpaid medical bills and other assets below its annual 3 percent of sales target ratio.

Dennis Deveaux, the BISX-listed healthcare provider’s chief executive, told Tribune Business yesterday it planned to return gains from lower provisions and impairments to patients - as well as shareholders - by improving Bahamian access to medical services and their affordability as he acknowledged that the typical $3,000 emergency room fee was “a big number for many people”.

Speaking just after the company released its audited financials for the year to end-January 2026, he said Doctors Hospital had further cut impairment and provision losses from the “north of $13m” hit just two years ago through a 46 percent year-over-year drop from $6.644m in 2025 to $3.588m.

“Obviously a couple of years ago we had somewhat of a more existential risk given that provisions were north of $13m, which was outside the benchmark we are targeting,” Mr Deveaux told this newspaper. “But in the year that just concluded, we were well under what we have been.”

He added that the $3.588m impairment loss for the year to end-January 2026 would have been $368,000 lower if Doctors Hospital’s East Bay Street-based Harbourside facility, which has now been sold to the Government in a $29m deal that closed on March 30, 2026, was stripped out.

“We’re well within the benchmark of under 3 percent [of sales],” Mr Deveaux said of the 2026 financial year’s impairment loss. “We’d like to be under 2 percent.

“What I can foreshadow, having got that bad debt under control, is we are planning on lowering the deposit requirements for the emergency room in New Providence by 33 percent. In order to grow the business, we need to return some of that improvement in efficiency in lower deposit rates.

“Traditionally, folks know an emergency room visit is an expensive ordeal and, generally, it is going to cost $3,000 depending on what happens,” he added. “We plan to lower that 33 percent. That reflects getting costs under control, and reflects management’s ability to control uncompensated care.

“We don’t want that uncompensated care raising the price point for everyone. We want to manage uncompensated care responsibly and reflect appropriate price points for these services. Make no mistake; that’s [$3,000] a big number for many people. We have to think of ways to make out-patient services, emergency room services, more accessible. Our first requirement is to lower that deposit requirement by 33 percent.”

Doctors Hospital has always had to strike a balance between ensuring patients always receive the care they need and keeping “uncompensated care”, which means unpaid medical bills owed by patients, insurers and other third-party payers, such as the Government under control. On its income statement, they remain a key factor driving impairment and provision losses, with a $3.57m hit taken during the 2026 financial year.

And, on its balance sheet, these outstanding medical bills rose by almost $4.5m or 13.7 percent year-over-year for the 12 months to end-January 2026, growing from $40.03m in 2025 to $45.517m. A net $9.34m of the latter figure was owed by patients themselves as at January 31, 2026, with the majority $36.176m due from third-party payers such as Bahamian life and health insurance companies.

Doctors Hospital’s financials also reveal that, included in the $36.176m figure, is $9.906m owed by the Government of The Bahamas for unpaid medical bills. The sum due from the Government had risen by almost $2.5m year-over-year or 32.9 percent, growing from $7.454m to $9.907m, although the BISX-listed healthcare provider made minimal $73,907 provisions for this debt.

Mr Deveaux told Tribune Business that Doctors Hospital’s 2026 financial performance showed it had “fully executed” on its Vision 2025 strategic plan to establish a national healthcare infrastructure throughout The Bahamas primarily by adding primary care locations on multiple islands.

It turned a $905,603 net loss for its 2025 financial year, resulting primarily from the Grand Bahama hospital and other investments it is making to generate future growth, into an $11.496m net profit for the 12 months to end-January 2026. The latter, though, was boosted by a one-time $7.421m gain on the finance lease associated with the now-sold Harbourside complex.

Mr Deveaux, though, asserted that stripping this gain out would still leave Doctors Hospital with a $4.075m profit for the 2026 financial year, which represented a more than $5m turnaround or positive reversal from the prior period’s $905,603 loss. He added that the non-Harbourside profits were still a decent return for shareholders, at more than 3 percent of patient services revenue, as the company targets 10 percent medium-term profit margins.

And the Doctors Hospital chief also pointed to increased patient use of its multiple pre-hospital, or primary, services locations, with utilisation rates increasing by 7.8 percent. Stripping out new locations which only opened during the 2026 financial year, and only comparing those that were already functioning during the prior year, he added, pushed that utilisation rate increase close to 10 percent.

“I think the fiscal year that ended on January 31, 2026, really represented the end of our Vision 2025 planning cycle. When we set out to grow and create a national footprint in The Bahamas, we looked at 2025,” he told Tribune Business. “The good news is that we not only generated an acceptable return for shareholders, but we saw there was quite a bump up as well on our top-line.

“The entire spectrum of pre-hospital services grew on a net basis by 7.8 percent. Utilisation grew by 7.8 percent. It was closer to 10 percent, or 9.8 percent, on comparative sites. We’re quite thrilled, I think, with that. We are very, very happy with that. That kind of response underlines we fully executed our Vision 2025. And, as you saw on the bottom line, we did generate acceptable returns.

“The prior year, because of all the investments we were making, we lost money. The year was profitable, so we had a complete reversal of that in 2026. Some of the gains attached to the sale of Doctors Hospital Harbourside to the Government, which was booked last year [in 2026], but when you pull that out we still generated a fairly acceptable financial return for shareholders.”

The “subsequent events” section of Doctors Hospital’s audited financials for the year to end-January 2026 reveals that it incurred a $1.045m loss on Harbourside’s sale to the Government, although that aspect is likely to be booked in the current financial period.

“On March 30, 2026, land, building, furniture and equipment classified as finance lease receivable with a carrying value of $30.108m as at January 31, 2026, were sold to a third party for $29m,” the financial statements said in reference to the Harbourside sale.

Mr Deveaux acknowledged that there are “always questions on how profitable a hospital should be”, with Doctors Hospital always having to balance the interests of its shareholders and investors with ensuring that healthcare price points remain accessible and affordable for Bahamians - even those that are covered by insurance.

Revealing that Doctors Hospital is targeting a 10 percent “return on sales”, or profit margin, in the medium-term, he added that this will come as the company executes on new investments such as its Grand Bahama hospital facility plus Village Road imaging centre and partnership with Bahamas NeuroGen Ltd’s neurological wellness centre. The latter is poised to lease its Doctors Hospital West facility on Blake Road.

Mr Deveaux asserted, though, that the increased use of pre-hospital services by patients sends “a fairly strong signal” about Doctors Hospital’s growth prospects and demand for medical care, with the 2026 results showing “a fairly healthy swing” back to profitability.

“We’re off to a good first half,” he added of the current 2027 financial year. “Our first quarter was a validation of all the investments we have made.” Disclosing that the the three-months to end-April 2026 were a quarterly “record” for Doctors Hospital in terms of patient revenue and net income, outside the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Deveaux said: “That’s an important signal around our growth trajectory.

“The second quarter, we expect to be a little softer, and the third quarter to be filled with the Grand Bahama hospital and NeuroGen openings. These two openings will likely soften earnings a bit, but it’s nothing shareholders should be concerned about. These are one-of-a-kind investments, and we will make those investments deliver an excellent product for Grand Bahama.”

Doctors Hospital’s patient service revenue increased to $123.032m in its 2026 financial year, representing a 3.7 percent increase from the prior year’s $118.59m. Total revenues, aided by the Harbourside finance lease gain, jumped from $121.508m in 2025 to $134.341m, while total expenses remained flat at $122.845m as opposed to the prior year’s $122.414m.