~ To improve services ~
CAY HILL–St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) will be improving its services and the design of the new general hospital for St. Maarten will be upgraded to withstand hurricanes that are stronger than category 5, thanks to a US $25 million grant the institution will receive from the St. Maarten Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience Trust Fund funded by the Netherlands and managed by the World Bank.
The grant agreement was signed amongst parties recently. The overall objective is to improve the preparedness and capacity of hospital services in St. Maarten, SMMC said in a press release on Thursday.
SMMC said the grant will serve to improve services of the current hospital while the new hospital is being built, and to upgrade the design of the new hospital to withstand hurricanes that are stronger than category 5.
According to the release, SMMC General Director Kees Klarenbeek is “elated” with the grant and is “very grateful” to the Government of the Netherlands, the World Bank and the Government of St. Maarten for the allocation of the funding. He is convinced that the new hospital will greatly reduce the discomfort of patients having to travel abroad because of non-availability of certain medical services on island.
“By now investing in certain critical upgrades to the existing facility and the Care Complex we can continue to introduce new medical specialties. This will significantly reduce the number of patients that are currently sent abroad and is in line with all health stakeholders’ mission of providing quality care close to home,” Klarenbeek stated.
The Care Complex will remain in existence after the completion of the new hospital building.
Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA Emil Lee said he is happy with the obvious benefits of strengthening the new hospital, reinforcement of the current SMMC and the support to achieve Joint Commission International (JCI) health care standards and accreditation.
“But there are additional benefits: the validation that our procurement procedures for the construction of the new hospital meet rigorous international standards, which brings status and confidence to the entire project,” Lee said. “In addition to the funds, the grant also comes with the supervision and technical expertise of the World Bank, which are both valued and appreciated. This is another tremendous step forward towards our anticipated start of the construction of the new general hospital later this year.”
The structure of the existing hospital was damaged and weakened by Hurricane Irma. As a result, priority has been given to essential upgrades to the current hospital which will ensure continuity of services and improve the hospital’s preparedness and capacity for future extreme weather conditions, particularly during the period that the new hospital is being built.
“While the new hospital will provide a state-of-the-art medical complex, final delivery of the new hospital will take place several years from now. With the upgrades to the existing facility taking place over the next year, patients will not have to wait until the new facility is completed, and can benefit from an expanded scope of services,” it was stated in the release.
“These investments to the current building compared to the reduction in the cost of overseas medical referrals are absolutely worth the effort. A start has already been made on the reinforcement of existing hospital’s roof in order to increase its resiliency to future storms.”
Lee and Klarenbeek thanked the teams of the World Bank, the Interim Recovery Committee, the VSA Ministry and SMMC for their “tremendous commitment” leading to “this important” agreement for St. Maarten.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79874-smmc-signs-us-25m-grant-agreement-with-world-bank
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