Cay Hill:--- Medical personnel including staff and the management team of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) are faced with yet another hurdle. Reliable information reaching SMN News states that all information pertaining to SMMC that was stored on the hospital's computer disappeared. SMN News learnt that management of SMMC learnt of the predicament a few days ago and the chairman of the board was expected to arrive on St. Maarten on Tuesday from Curacao to find a solution for the predicament.
The source said all of SMMC's financial records disappeared and it cannot be ascertained if the computer system at SMMC crashed or what really transpired. Questions are now being raised by personnel and other institutions about the computer hiccup and loss of valuable information. Some persons said they believe that an investigation is warranted because the 2012 financial report showed the hospital has a huge and unexplained deficit. "Their financial records and everything else disappeared. Last year (2012) SMMC suffered a huge financial loss and that was not yet disclosed to government, then suddenly the records disappear. This is indeed questionable and the pertinent authorities need to step in to investigate this matter."
SMN News learnt that SMMC management has been trying to hide the real situation by telling their stakeholders such as SZV and others that they have internet problems. SMN News further learnt that the company that used to do the backups for SMMC is no longer providing that service therefore leaving SMMC in real limbo with regards to its digital information. The source said SMMC stopped backing up their data with a Canadian company some two years ago so if they are to retrieve any information from that company it would be two years old. "The records for 2012 financial transactions will definitely not be retrieved."
SMN News also learnt that SMMC communications officer was forced to resign and she filed court litigation against the medical institution. Members of the board of directors of SMMC could not be reached on Tuesday for a comment. SMN News also tried to reach the former communications officer by telephone and she also could not be reached.
