The agreement for after-hours “house doctors post” at St. Maarten Diagnostic Center (SMDC) in Simpson Bay (see related story) is intended to improve access to primary care. It was signed in the presence of Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA Omar Ottley, Social and Health Insurances SZV Director Glen Carty and Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Reginald Willemsberg as well as SMDC proprietor Dr. Danny Dennaoui and Chief Operations Manager Joshua Djamedi.
The lack of such services outside regular business hours has been a challenge and puts unnecessary pressure on the Emergency Room (ER) at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC). Too many people show up there with what are not real emergencies because they have no alternative, leading to congestion, long waiting times and frequent complaints.
And it’s not just a local problem. For example in Curaçao general practitioners (GPs) earlier this year demanded and received extra pay for evening and weekend care on a rotational basis, pending the establishment of a similar facility.
The one at SMDC is to open from 6:00pm to midnight. SZV-covered persons will be able to go there for acute illness, small procedures like nebulising asthma patients and simple wound treatment including stitching and removing ingrown toenails, while for those with private insurance it depends on the policy.
The stated goal is not to compete with family doctor clinics, so only cases that can’t wait until the next morning may be handled and medicine prescriptions must be for a maximum three days. Moreover, the client’s information is to be sent to their GP and a workgroup with relevant parties will monitor the programme.
Whether the July 1 target date can still be met very much remains to be seen and it is limited to a six-month pilot up to now, but all involved nevertheless deserve credit for this significant first step.
