Philipsburg:--- The supervisory board of the St. Maarten Medical Center sent an email late Wednesday night informing the Parliament of St. Maarten that they want Parliament to postpone the permanent committee meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon because in their opinion they were given short notice. The supervisory board of SMMC was given the first opportunity to meet with the permanent committee of parliament to explain the members of that committee about the management and shortfalls of the institution.According to information provided to SMN News, the chairman of the permanent committee on health care has instructed the griffier of parliament to respond to the email sent by the supervisory board of SMMC and inform them that the chairman of the permanent committee for health Petrus Leroy De Weever wants all the closed door hearings to be completed within ten days time and if the permanent committee cannot get its work done within the timeframe they set, then Member of Parliament Petrus de Weever will request that a Parliamentary inquiry be conducted at SMMC based on articles 64 and 75 of the Constitution of St. Maarten.
In an invited comment, Member of Parliament Petrus Leroy de Weever confirmed that the supervisory board of the SMMC asked for a postponement of the meeting they had scheduled for today (Thursday). De Weever said that he already instructed the griffier to make sure the supervisory board provides parliament with a date on which they can meet before the end of Thursday. MP De Weever said if the supervisory board of SMMC does not provide a date on which they can meet with the permanent committee of parliament then a letter will be sent to them informing them of the steps parliament has taken against the St. Maarten Medical Center.
Minister of Health Cornelius de Weever and the Inspector General Dr. Earl Best are expected to meet with the permanent committee of health on Friday morning then a meeting will be held with the doctors and specialists, and finally SZV and its advisers.
These meetings were called shortly after SMN News broke the news that the inspector general Dr. Earl Best had conducted an investigation into the functioning of the St. Maarten Medical Center and based on his preliminary findings he told the Council of Ministers last week Tuesday that he would have advised government to close SMMC if there was another medical institution on the Dutch side of the island. Dr. Best also gave the Council of Ministers insight regarding the investigations he conducted after some families filed complaints at his office regarding the death of their loved ones.