In keeping the general public of St. Maarten and surrounding islands informed about the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic so far, St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) released a 2- minute video today via SMMC’s social media channels.
The video documents the mitigating efforts and addition of extra isolation room and ICU bed capacity the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) of SMMC has actioned in response to the COVID-19 health crisis. The video features Dr. Felix Holiday, SMMC’s Medical Director and Chairman of the OMT, who explains the progress made thus far.
Preventative measures
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, SMMC has been taking several preventative measures to limit the possible exposure to the virus, such as the ceasing of elective medical procedures and consultations, doing pre-screening at the main entrances of SMMC and the Care Complex, suspending patient visiting hours, freezing the travel of medical specialists and adding isolation and ICU capacity to name a few.
Isolation and ICU capacity inside SMMC
Trough the expansion of the Medical/Surgical ward by hermetically sealing off the ward and designating it to the care for acute COVID-19 patients only and through the extra ICU capacity brought in through the Dutch Government’s support, SMMC has increased its isolation capacity to 14 isolation beds inside of the hospital of which 6 beds are for ICU care with each having its own ventilator.
Mobile Medical Pavilion
In the video, Dr. Felix Holiday, SMMC’s Medical Director and Chairman of the OMT, shows the Mobile Medical Pavilion that is being finalized in a joint effort with the Government of St. Maarten, which will be used for medium care for COVID-19 suspects and confirmed cases and will also be used for patient screening purposes for anyone showing flu like symptoms. The Medical Pavilion houses 7 double patient rooms and support staff rooms.
ICU Tent (Hospitainer)
The ICU Tent that has arrived on St. Maarten recently through the support of the Dutch Government has 6 beds, each with its own ventilator. The ICU Tent will be transformed into an ICU-container, a so-called “Hospitainer”, in the near future which is more storm resilient.
Dr. Holiday thanks all staff, especially the front line staff for their continued hard work and dedication: “As we go through these trying times together, we at SMMC want to thank and salute all of our hardworking staff, especially our frontline staff, the Ambulance Department, CPS, the SLS/HCLS labs and the Government of St. Maarten as it takes unimaginable courage, strength and dedication to continue to serve the people of St. Maarten, Saba and Statia. Stay safe, remain resilient and be strong!”, Dr. Holiday concludes.
The production of the video is made possible by funds received from The World Bank, for which SMMC expressed its gratitude and can be viewed via SMMC’s YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn social media channels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm7llJWzdhM