Philipsburg:--- Minister of Health and Labour Dr. Cornelius de Weever made clear on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' press conference that the expansion of the St. Maarten Medical Center, both the building and its services have his full support and attention. The Minister of Health said he needed to clear the air about "medical tourism" which he said still has a few more years before it can be realized on St. Maarten. Minister De Weever said that no one should try to confuse the two issues to create a distraction from the current situation at the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC). "As the Minister responsible for health care I must deal with the most pressing issues at hand. Medical Tourism is an opportunity to improve health care for everyone. Instead of sending our patients overseas for treatment we can have the same services here on St. Maarten at the local tariffs. Medical Tourism should complement the SMMC and not compete with the SMMC. I have no personal interest or stake in medical tourism other than the interest of all people residing on St. Maarten which is to provide good and quality health care. Dr. Scot has been involved with one of the medical tourism groups when I met with them in Florida last year. The intention is to always include the St. Maarten Medical Center, so it would be up to Dr. Scot to give the people of St. Maarten account because I was not privy to all their meetings."
Minister De Weever further stated that the current situation at the St. Maarten Medical Center cannot and should not decline and all opportunities will be explored to improve the current situation. He said he will support any decision that has to be taken to ensure that the safety and quality of health care on St. Maarten improves.
Doctors had no Ministerial Decree to practice on St. Maarten.
When asked by SMN News if the government of St. Maarten has a member on the supervisory board of SMMC, Minister De Weever said that the SMMC revised its bylaws in 2008 and there are no provisions for government to have a member on the supervisory board but he already indicated to the SMMC supervisory board that the government of St. Maarten would like to have a member on the supervisory board now. Minister De Weever also confirmed that he did not issue a Ministerial Decree for Dr. Lampmann and Dr. Covelies. These two doctors were brought into St. Maarten for a period of three days to perform some operations. They are the ones who operated on Ruth Olivacce who passed away after they punctured two of her main arteries. When asked if the two doctors were authorized to work at the St. Maarten Medical Center prior to obtaining a Ministerial Besluit. Minister de Weever said that all of that is part of the investigation that is now being conducted by the Inspector General. The Minister also confirmed that there have been some discrepancies when it came to the issuance of the MB because their paperwork was not submitted on time to the Department of Health. Minister de Weever said based on the information he received, the information for the two doctors was submitted to the Department of Health late and the advice was not completed. Minister De Weever said that if the SMMC had submitted the paperwork for the doctors in time the decree would have been granted because the doctors are registered in the Netherlands.
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