Dr. Joep Schats
- EUSTATIUS--Dr. Joep Schats and Nurse Patrick Nomden were brought to St. Eustatius to operate the Hospitainer. Financed by the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sport, the mobile facility is to provide additional support to Statia’s healthcare sector during the coronavirus pandemic. Schats sat down and spoke about the reason he had embarked on this venture.
Schats stated that he has known Statia for many years, since his father Dr. Paul Schats was a family doctor in Statia in the late 1970s. When the opportunity to work on the island for a couple of months came up, he said it seemed like a “nice opportunity.”
The Hospitainer team started working on the facility about a month ago. In case of a COVID-19 case on the island, the Hospitainer can be operational in a brief timespan, Dr. Schats said.
The six-unit facility is all set up and the structure is operational to see patients at the location behind the Old Church cemetery and the Jewish cemetery.
At the moment the Hospitainer team is busy training nurses of several healthcare organisations in Statia, such as Queen Beatrix Medical Centre, Home Care, Auxiliary Home and the Public Health Department. The training is to prepare the nurses to cope with any eventual COVID-19 situation. Three former nurses came back from retirement in case there is a need for additional nurses.
“We are currently busy working on a video to show the public and the people of Statia the inside of the Hospitainer. We are doing this because we think it is very important that people know what is going on, and they can have a glimpse of what will happen if someone gets COVID contamination,” Schats said.
Construction work is still ongoing at the Hospitainer site, with gravel being laid down for pavement. Fencing will also be installed and greenery planted to give the area a more attractive atmosphere.
There are currently no active cases of COVID-19 in Statia.
