Cay Hill:--- The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) Clarence Richardson resigned from the Supervisory Board on Saturday. According to reliable sources, Clarence Richardson was given a consultancy position on October 10th, 2011 when he turned 70 years old. Sources close to the St. Maarten Medical Center said Richardson was collecting $1,500 per month before his 70th birthday, which was October 10th 2011. Richardson was supposed to resign on that same day and turn over the helm of the supervisory board to someone else since it is stipulated in the bylaws of the Supervisory Board of the St. Maarten Medical Center that board members cannot be older than 70 years old, but Richardson and the other members of the board found a loop hole by making Richardson a consultant as of October 10th, 2011. Sources close to the St. Maarten Medical Center said that Richardson's consultancy fees skyrocketed when he was appointed by the supervisory board as a consultant. Questions are now being raised if Richardson also submitted a check amounting to the monies he paid himself since October 10th, 2011 when he delivered his resignation letter to the remaining members of the supervisory board. "We want to know if Clarence Richardson will give back the monies he received illegally for almost one year. We are also questioning if the contracts and other commitments made by management and the supervisory board will be revoked by the new board because the board that Clarence Richardson headed was illegal."
SMN News also learnt that each member of the supervisory board of the St. Maarten Medical Center has to be approved by the government of St. Maarten but that did not happen over the years. The sources said government basically allowed the supervisory board to do what they wanted and did not supervise the institution. Medical staff at the St. Maarten Medical Center said that Richardson ran after pressure came from Inspector General Dr. Earl Best and government and it was clear that medical care at SMMC was in jeopardy because several persons lost their lives at the St. Maarten Medical Center over recent years. SMN News learnt that questions are also being raised about the liability the SMMC will be facing for the negligence that resulted in deaths of several people. According to reliable information reaching SMN News, the late Ruth Olivacce's family will be filing a claim for her wrongful death and already SZV has indicated that they will not be shouldering that expense. It should be noted that the doctor who operated on the late Ruth Olivacce last week to remove the catheter left the island the following day and the Inspector General is busy trying to locate the doctor in the Netherlands to interview him on how he managed to puncture two of the victim's main arteries.
SMN News has also been reliably informed that the medical and specialists committee that is scheduled to meet with parliament on September 3rd, 2012 already took an unanimous decision over the weekend to inform the supervisory board that they want the management of the SMMC to change forthwith because there is too much chaos at the St. Maarten Medical Center and if the situation continues Inspector General Dr. Earl Best will have no choice but to apply the law and call for the closure of the institution.
Some persons such as legal advisers have said that the Supervisory Board of the St. Maarten Medical Center has chosen to sell the Cay Hill pharmacy to one of the interested parties that are operating at the medical institution. A concerned onlooker said that the Cay Hill pharmacy was sold in June 2012 and if the "illegal" supervisory board committed such an act then government should revoke the contract and sale of the pharmacy.
The Parliament of St. Maarten is currently holding several hearings to determine their next step and course of action when it comes to the St. Maarten Medical Center.
