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Exclusive: Szv Stands To Lose 85% Of Its Monthly Revenue --- Aircraft Was Chartered To Fly Out Employees To Curacao.

~ Illegal deals will send medical insurance company belly up while Supervisory Board dormant ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Social Insurance Bank of St. Maarten (SZV) may soon go belly up as they stand to lose at least 85% of their monthly revenues since the passing of hurricane Irma a month ago. With several large hotels and businesses not operating these companies that pay monthly premiums to SZV will most likely not make their payments for the next few months.
According to data provided to SMN News, SZV has one-third of its expenses locked into consultancy fees Read more

Exclusive: An Assessment On Healthcare On St. Maarten.

SZV funds being drained; Bricks and Blocks will not improve the Quality of Care on St. Maarten.

PHILIPSBURG:--- In this article SMN News will go into details to highlight the current status on quality of Healthcare on St. Maarten and what the Minister of Public Health Emil Lee has done thus far to change the gloom and doom facing the people of St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VSA Emil Lee confirmed on Wednesday that a baby was born on St. Maarten with symptoms related to microcephaly. The Minister is not too happy with the media reports on the first ever suspected microcephaly case on St. Maarten because he believes it regards the privacy of the family that has found themselves in a bad situation Read more

Rotary Club Of Sint Maarten Accepts Donation From Nagico

-Sponsors Medical Conference for the Third Year -FREE PUBLIC MEETING ON CANCER PHILIPSBURG, SINT MAARTEN – August 28, 2017 – The Rotary Club of Sint Maarten proudly accepted a large donation from NAGICO Insurances in support of the upcoming Oncology (Cancer) Conference. The Rotary Club of Sint Maarten, in conjunction with the Windward Islands Medical Association, will be holding a conference for medical professionals on the state of Cancer and care/treatment on St Read more

Minister Lee Pleas With Outgoing Minister Of Interior Affairs For Ngh Funding --- Pm

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin announced on Wednesday that the Minister of VSA Emil Lee tried once more to convince the Dutch Government to provide financing for the New General Hospital Read more

Smmc Hosts Appreciation Celebration Event For Oncology Patients

CAYHILL- On Saturday August 5th, the SMMC hosted an appreciation celebration event for their heroes, current and former oncology patients. The theme of the event was an ‘Appreciation Celebration; Surviving the Odds’.

The purpose of this celebration was to commemorate their patients and all that they have overcome. A small team of the Outpatient department felt a great need to celebrate their patients by involving all those that they have helped along the journey. The preparations for this event begun earlier in the year, with the initial idea brought forth almost two years previously.

Coincidentally, this year marks 20 years since the hospital first started oncology treatments for patients in need Read more

CAYHILL:--- On Saturday, August 5th, the SMMC hosted an appreciation celebration event for their heroes, current, and former oncology patients. The theme of the event was an ‘Appreciation Celebration; Surviving the Odds’.
The purpose of this celebration was to commemorate their patients and all that they have overcome. A small team of the Outpatient department felt a great need to celebrate their patients by involving all those that they have helped along the journey. The preparations for this event begun earlier in the year, with the initial idea brought forth almost two years previously.
Coincidentally, this year marks 20 years since the hospital first started oncology treatments for patients in need Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Health Emil Lee is almost sure that SZV will give him a letter of guarantee which will guarantee that the health insurance entity will finance 50% of the construction cost of the New General Hospital.
SMN News asked the Minister if there is tension between the Supervisory Board of SZV and the Managing Director? since the Supervisory Board clearly outlined some of the misgivings from the management team of SZV Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VSA Emil Lee said on Wednesday that he is still working diligently on obtaining finance for the construction of the New General Hospital. The Minister said that his hope is SZV and APS are the ones that will finance the New General Hospital. He said the two entities are ensuring that they conduct due diligence before signing off on the financing Read more

Persons Insured By Szv Has To Pay Cash At Lfc. Lack Of Payment By Obs.

PHILIPSBURG/Marigot:--- Patients that are ensured by SZV St. Maarten will not be able to see a doctor even in emergency cases at the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital (LCF) unless they pay the 75 Euros consultation fee cash or 100 Euros as an initial deposit if they are to be hospitalized. Management of LCF implement the new rules as of July 24th, 2017 after they were not paid by the Association Observatoire de la Santé of Saint Martin (OBS) Read more

Premiums will increase which the private sector has problems with --- Finance Minister --- SHTA objecting to high cost.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Health Emil Lee reacted to the statements made by the SHTA on the implementation of the National Health Insurance ( NHI) which they also requested be postponed. Minister Lee made clear that he do believe the discussion on the NHI is a good discussion because everyone deserves to have quality healthcare Read more

GREAT BAY(DCOMM):--- The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), said goodbye to Dr. Virginia Asin, head of Collective Preventive Services (CPS)/Chief Medical Officer, a department within the Ministry VSA last week Friday.

Both the Minister of Public Health Emil Lee and the Secretary General of Ministry VSA Joy Arnell, thanked Dr Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ambulance Department of Ministry Public Health, Social Development & Labor received a new Zumro 600 rapid mobile emergency shelter just in time for HUREX 2017 drill.
The ZUMRO shelters are used by numerous Disaster Management Teams across the USA including Europe for Urban Search & Rescue Task Force.
This multi-purpose usage system is an ideal rapid mobile shelter that provides rapid deployment that would create an environment in times of disasters that is conducive to advance medical treatment in the field of Emergency Medical Services Read more

Minister Lee: Working To Ensure That The Health Of The Population Is Well Protected

PHILIPSBURG – Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Emil Lee addressed members of the media in Wednesday’s, June 21, Council of Ministers Press Briefing.

He first addressed some confusion in the public about the water situation, “so I thought it’d be good to try and recap and give a little bit more clarity on the situation.”

“Number 1, the Inspectorate last night issued a press release announcing that they would be intensifying their supervision of drinking water, and that’s a release that the media should have already, so there are some points that I’m going to elaborate on a bit,” Minister Lee began.

“For the public information, the water that is distributed via GEBE is water that’s produced by a process called reverse osmosis Read more

Registration of Specialists is cumbersome and frustrating.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Health Emil Lee who had an independent study conducted at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) the Inspectorate and the Department of Public Health said the report from that study which was conducted by a Dutch consultant Everard van Kemenade is intended to get the real status of the of health care on St Read more

Ambulance Department Inaugurates Two New Ambulances Equipped With Power Pro Hydraulic Cot Stretchers & Loading System

CAYHILL, Sint Maarten —  In the continuing effort to further professionalize the operations of the Ambulance Department of Ministry VSA and to equip our ambulances with the latest Emergency Medical Services (EMS) innovations on St. Maarten, two new fully equipped ambulances with the Power Pro Hydraulic Stretchers & Loading System were commissioned by Minister Emil Lee last week.

“The Ministry of VSA continues to make investments to improve the quality of care delivered to the people of St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- In the continuing effort to further professionalize the operations of the Ambulance Department of Ministry VSA and to equip our ambulances with the latest Emergency Medical Services (EMS) innovations on St. Maarten, two new fully equipped ambulances with the Power Pro Hydraulic Stretchers & Loading System were commissioned by Minister Emil Lee last week.
“The Ministry of VSA continues to make investments to improve the quality of care delivered to the people of St Read more

Minister Lee: Public Health Not At Risk

PHILIPSBURG – Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Emil Lee in Wednesday’s, June 14, Council of Ministers Press Briefing first addressed the issue of possible contamination of the drinking water in St. Maarten after a statement was made by the Inspectorate.

“Indeed some hotels on the island have tested positive for Legionella, which can happen based on various causes Read more

Mark Your Calendar For The Next Breast Abnormalities Screening For June 24

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Saturday, June 17, marked the first day of a two-year breast abnormalities screening survey where 23 women participated in the screening.

The women took the opportunity to pass by the Vineyard Office Park Building in Philipsburg at the Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), to take part in the survey.

“Congratulation to the women who came out and who have already registered to pass by during theSaturday screenings.  I compliment them for their participation as this is a very important screening for women’s health.

“Minister of Public Health Emil Lee and the Acting Secretary General of Ministry VSA Joy Arnell also visited the screening activity on Saturday.

“I am reminding women to mark their calendar for next Saturday and come out and contribute to the breast health screening survey.  With the information that is gathered, we will be able to develop additional intervention strategies,” Dr Read more

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):---- Saturday, June 17, marked the first day of two-year breast abnormalities screening survey where 23 women participated in the screening.

The women took the opportunity to pass by the Vineyard Office Park Building in Philipsburg at the Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), to take part in the survey.

“Congratulation to the women who came out and who have already registered to pass by during the Saturday screenings Read more

Ministry Vsa Working To Make Sure Water Quality Is Assured.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ministry of VSA has the responsibility to ensure that the drinking water that is being delivered to the community is safe. Yesterday, the Inspectorate released a statement “Indeed some hotels on the Island have tested positive for legionella which can happen due to various causes. Those that were tested positive do have a program to follow to ensure that contamination is contained and prevented. The Inspectorate and the hotels are working very well together to ensure that the laws are adhered to and that public safety is protected.”
Minister Emil Lee reassures the public that at no time was there a public health risk and that if there were, the Inspectorate would adopt a policy where they would inform the public whenever there is a public health risk Read more

PHILIPSBURG:---- Minister of VSA Emil Lee confirmed on Wednesday that several hotels on St. Maarten were tested positive for legionella which can happen based on various causes. Lee made the announcement after SMN News published an article about a number of hotels that tested positive for Legionella and E-coli which was confirmed by the Inspectorate of Health.
The Minister said that the hotels that were tested positive do have a program to follow to ensure that containment and contamination are contained and prevented Read more

Exclusive:One Year Since Dbm Tendering Was Done For New General Hospital And Still No Financing Or Business Plan.

PHILIPSBURG: --- Patients on St. Maarten have to remain much longer on the waiting list and continue to travel overseas for much needed medical care as the company charged with obtaining the finances ($65M) is nowhere close to finding financiers even though it has been one year now since the bidding process took place and INSO won the disputed contract.
It is not yet comprehensible how SZV could hire a KPMG and is paying them hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and these so called professionals did not even secure a business plan and or financiers prior to putting the project on the bid.
One would think that anyone who wants to construct a building or any project would ensure they have the monies in place prior to hiring contractors that can take the government of St Read more

Minister Lee: Sharing Best And Worst Practices

PHILIPSBURG – Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Emil Lee addressed the media in Wednesday’s, June 7, Council of Ministers Press Briefing.

He made a brief statement about the “Taste of the Caribbean” this past week, which is a CHTA event in Miami. Florida, which is their chief or Caribbean hospitality industry exchange forum Read more