PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VSA Omar Ottley confirmed on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers press briefing that SZV has opted to pull away from Panama and resume sending its patients to Colombia since that country has since reopened its borders.
Ottley said in 2020 when Colombia closed its borders due to the pandemic St. Maarten had to seek alternatives for its patients that needed further medical care overseas and Panama was their only option.
The Minister said now that Columbia has reopened its borders for the vaccinated and unvaccinated then the decision was taken to resume sending their patients to Colombia since the cost of medical care in Panama is much higher.
Asked about patients that need to travel back to Panama for follow-ups or further medical care, the minister said that SZV will analyze each case and they would then decide if they would honor the follow-ups to Panama for it the patients will be sent to Colombia. “This will be on a case-by-case basis, but the idea is to phase out of Panama mostly because of the high costs in Panama.”
