Minister De Weever said his office already contacted the inspectorate and requested that they do their jobs in this regard while he spoke to Dr. George Scot about the matter. Minister De Weever told members of the media that he was supposed to meet with the Board of St. Maarten Medical Center last week and that meeting could not take place. He said he intends to meet with the SMMC board sometime this week and he will address the matter of having male and female patients sharing rooms.
When asked why the Government of St. Maarten did not grant the St. Maarten Medical Center a guarantee letter that would allow them to get the necessary financing for the hospital's expansion, Minister De Weever said to date the board of the St. Maarten Medical Center has not submitted a request in writing to government requesting a guarantee letter. Minister De Weever said the government of St. Maarten has been facilitating the St. Maarten Medical Center through the Central Bank with bonds. Minister de Weever made clear that Government has been working with the board of the St. Maarten Medical Center and government is supporting the expansion. However, he said he does not think the SMMC needs to have a guarantee letter from government to do their expansion. He said based on the information he has, the SMMC is financially strong enough to execute the expansion. "You should know that government supports the expansion and will do whatever we can to assist." When asked if he knew why the banks on St. Maarten denied the SMMC the loan they are seeking for the expansion, Minister De Weever said he cannot see any reason why any banking institution would deny the SMMC a loan when they are the only hospital on St. Maarten.
In the meantime, SMN News learnt that the SMMC has strong bank account which amounts to 12 million dollars. The former board of the St. Maarten Medical Center took over the institution with 25 million guilders in arrears, one of the former board members told SMN News on Wednesday. "We took over a hospital with 25 million guilders in arrears and when we left the board, it had a surplus of 12 million dollars." The former board member also pointed out that the President of the Supervisory board and Medical Director is now also the Chairman of the Board and he urged government to rectify the matter as soon as possible. "The members of the former board made Dr. George Scot the Director of the Hospital and we made clear to him that he cannot be the Chairman of the Board."
When SMN News contacted Dr. George Scot on Wednesday for a reaction on mixing patients and the letter of guarantee he said he requested from government Dr. George Scott said he had no comments on either issue.
Letter of Intent Granted to American Medical Clinic.
In the meantime, the Minister confirmed on Wednesday that the government of St. Maarten has granted a letter of intent to the Dr. Samuel Hess who is seeking to build a Medical Tourism Center in the Simpson Bay area. Minister De Weever also clarified that several organizations submitted requests to government asking for letters of intent to build more hospitals on the Dutch side of the island. Minister De Weever said the letter of intent has a timeline in which the foreign investors have to begin construction. Minister De Weever also announced that the government of St. Maarten will be issuing another letter of intent to an investor who is also interested in building a hospital here.
When asked by SMN News if he believed building more hospitals on the Dutch side of the island will hinder the progress of SMMC, Minister De Weever said based on all the discussions that have taken place thus far the hospitals are supposed to work together. "It is supposed to be a compliment to each other and not a competition to each other."
