Worldwide Travel Staffing, a New York-based medical staffing company, has asked the Virgin Islands Superior Court to force the V.I. Government Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation (GHHFC) to pay a $12.1 million judgment that remains unpaid months after becoming final.
The company filed a mandamus petition Thursday, arguing that GHHFC has neither paid the judgment nor made a genuine settlement offer. Superior Court Judge Ernest E. Morris Jr. issued the judgment in April following a March 30 hearing, awarding $12,137,664.84 in total damages. The breakdown included $4,220,704.35 for unpaid invoices, $7,894,688.34 in prejudgment interest, $21,132.50 in attorneys' fees and $1,139.65 in court costs.
The dispute traces back to 2005, when Worldwide began providing nurses and other healthcare workers to Juan F. Luis Hospital on St. Croix. The arrangement continued until May 2013, when payments halted while more than $4.2 million remained outstanding. Worldwide filed suit in 2014 and spent over a decade in litigation before securing the judgment.
According to the petition, GHHFC did not seek to delay the April judgment or file an appeal within the required 60-day window, making the judgment final and enforceable. Worldwide sent a formal demand letter on August 18 with payment calculations, but says the corporation has taken no action.
Collection obstacles
Under Virgin Islands law, GHHFC's property and funds are largely shielded from standard collection methods such as attachment or execution. This legal protection prevents Worldwide from using the tools typically available to creditors pursuing unpaid judgments, prompting the request for a court-ordered mandate.
The judgment arrives as the territory's public hospital system grapples with mounting financial difficulties. By August, Juan F. Luis Hospital reported approximately $45.6 million in outstanding obligations, comprising $22.9 million in accounts payable and $22.7 million in employee-related debts. Some of these obligations date to 2005. The hospital also disclosed approximately $5.9 million owed to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and $6.4 million in Social Security taxes.
The court has not yet ruled on whether it will grant the mandamus petition.
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