– The road to a financially sustainable hospital-
The key criteria for the new national hospital is that it is financially sustainable and catering to the every growing community of St. Maarten. In the two day conference of the ‘Tripartite’ held on March 3rd and 4th, the focus was re-validating the business plan for the hospital, ensuring that the process consists of sound and logical steps.
The conference was a closed session amongst the ‘Tripartite’ which was represented by members of the Ministry of Public Health, Social & Health Insurances SZV and the St. Maarten Medical Center, alongside Observatory St.Maarten/St. Martin, KPMG, KPMG Plexus, Royal HaskoningDHV and Performation – a specialized healthcare company in the Netherlands.
“It was an inspirational conference, the atmosphere was constructive and professional. We had many promising discussions. It is now a good time to discuss the integrated health care approach whereby our family doctors will continue to play an important role as the gatekeepers for the new hospital. We are on the right path to accessible, affordable and quality health care for the people of St. Maarten! I’m also looking forward to the upcoming discussions with the CFT and the Dutch Government to see if we can make use of the capital investment program as included in Government’s long term budget plans and to ensure that our new hospital can have an expanded regional function by improving service to our neighboring islands such as Saba and Sint Eustatius.” – Emil Lee, Minister of Public Health
The conference aim was to establish a final re-validation of the main assumptions of the business plan and review the possible considerations and implications this would have for the new hospital. One of the many agenda topics was the type of medical services required on St. Maarten that the new hospital would be able to accommodate. This based on the overall desire to facilitate high quality, accessible and affordable health care that is ‘close to home’. It is the aim of the St. Maarten Medical Center to be able to provide first class health care when opening the new hospital. Some of the ‘new services’ discussed are scheduled to be implemented before the completion of the new building. The branding of SMMC was also included in the sessions.
“We are already working on a recruitment- and training plan to be sure that we can deliver the desired quality of the health care. This plan will be implemented during the construction period of the new hospital.” – Kees Klarenbeek – Director SMMC
Optimization of the cooperation with the French side was also discussed, as well as establishing partnerships with other potential health care providers. It was noted that improving the quality of health care services on St. Maarten is not only reliant on a new hospital but also on strong partnerships with outstanding health care providers. During the sessions, parties continued to highlight the optimization of the health care chain on a whole and the introduction of E-Care in 2025. SZV plays a major role in defining the development of the healthcare landscape, it is strategically very important and will play a role on how the organization will serve the community at large.
“With the new hospital also comes new responsibilities, shared responsibilities. We all would like the best quality of health care for the community of St. Maarten and for this we all must commit to providing such care. One of the next steps will be to discuss with our key stakeholders, the solutions for the need of rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes etc. The care solutions will not stop only by a new hospital.” – Glen A. Carty – Interim Director SZV.
The ‘Tripartite Protocol’ that was signed end of March last year, enabled the current workgroups combined to strategically move forward with the many aspects of the realization of the new hospital, bringing it this far today. The project is in its second phase now and KPMG, Royal HaskoningDHV and ICE are putting together the technical requirements needed to start the tender process for a turnkey developer for the new hospital. The new hospital will be built with the intention to last the next forty years. The key criteria for the design and construction is flexibility, being able to adapt to the future developments within the health care sector, catering to the future needs and the demands.
“As we continue to optimize the business plan, it remains of utmost importance that all parties continue to work well together like we did for the last year! The Tripartite has gained the assistance of external experts such as Performation and KPMG Plexus which have been a great asset in putting together the many pieces of this very important project. Everyone is really putting in good work into the project and it is exciting to see it grow in the right direction.” – Henk de Zeeuw – KPMG
The conference of the Tripartite was one of the many sessions held in relation to the development of the new hospital, safeguarding the development of a sustainable and effective solution for health care on St. Maarten. Upcoming will be sessions with the nurses, doctors and other staff members of the SMMC as well as other key stakeholders and health care providers on the island.