Based on the documents provided to the Inspectorate it cannot be concluded if the referral was necessary.
PHILIPSBURG:-- USZV seems to have a lot to hide since management of USZV refused to fully comply with the investigation of its employee medical referral to Curacao even though they have a signed agreement with the Director of USZV, the Minister of Health Emil Lee and the Inspector General Earl Best which allows the Inspectorate to conduct an audit of the medical referral department at USZV.
SMN News filed a LOB request with the inspectorate to obtain the full report on the investigation to determine whether or not the investigation as done independently especially since the employee in question was the former partner of the Inspector General Dr. Earl Best and based on information throughout the St. Maarten community the employee in question allegedly has special relationship with the current director of USZV. This, however, has been denied by the director of USZV Glen Carty who also said he did not participate in the investigation but instead it was handled by the human resources department and his legal team, which also includes a law firm that was hired for this particular case.
The inspector general Earl Best clearly indicated to SMN News that he has not been with his ex-partner for more than two years, he added that even if he was the employee in question the investigation would have taken place the same way because the inspectorate believes in transparency and good governance especially when it comes to the use of public funds.
In this particular investigation Dr. Best removed himself from the entire investigation, the report which is beneath this article shows that the replacement for the Inspector General and a health inspector conducted the entire investigation and also compiled their report.
However, the behavior by the management of USZV leaves nothing but questions, USZV hired a law firm, along with their internal legal team to protect the employee. The Inspectorate was forced to implement fines for non-compliance and even though those were imposed the inspectorate only got the opportunity to view parts of the file at USZV office in the presence of two lawyers, one being Jeroen Veen whose position in the meeting could not be verified.
Based on the report it shows that the employee is not even known at the St. Maarten Medical Center even though she seems to have a severe ailment. Besides that the inspectorate was only provided with a letter from the specialist in Curacao and nothing for the employee’s doctors locally or SMMC. While the employee spent 12 days in a luxurious hotel in Curacao her appointments did not require that amount of time. The specialists she visited did not provide any report on the patient (employee) medical condition or even indicate whether not the transfer to Curacao was necessary.
The employee got NAF60.00 per day as daily allowance and according USZV is was given less than she was entitled to but none of their claims were substantiated. Deducting from the report, it is clear that USZV violated its own policies on medical referral for this particular employee. One being she was allowed to stay in a luxurious hotel for 12 days all paid for by USZV through or debit or credit card.
The ticket to travel to and from Curacao was paid for by USZV while her minor daughter ticket was purchased by the child’s father and not USZV. The report further states that even if the employee had needed a companion her minor child would not have qualified.
Several patients that have to depend on USZV complaints about the services they receive from USZV when they need to travel overseas. In some cases, USZV would deny patients the rights for medical treatment abroad claiming it’s not covered, but in this case, the employee received all she wanted and not what she deserved without any hassle.
The report from the Inspectorate can be viewed below which would show how far USZV went in order to protect or cover up what was done for their employee.
Click here to read the report on the medical referral of the USZV staff
\r\n\t\t\t\t\tEXCLUSIVE: USZV refused to cooperate with Inspectorate on the medical referral of its employee.
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