VSA Minister Omar Ottley (second left) and SMMC Medical Director Dr. Felix Holiday (right) were joined by other SMMC staff members during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the official opening of the new Operating Theatre. Story on page .
PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor VSA Omar Ottley attended the official opening of the new Operating Theatre, Oncology and Dialysis Suite, and the five double patient rooms at the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) on Monday, May 9.
The upgrades to the dialysis suite allows SMMC to increase the number of patients that can be treated and two operating theatres with state of the art equipment that is compatible with the equipment used in the Netherlands and the United States.
The oncology room has a capacity to treat five patients comfortably, which also includes a private room, and an office for private consultations.
During the tour, Director of SMMC Dr. Felix Holiday expressed his gratitude to the steering committee, project managers, SMMC board members, his staff, nurses and the Minister of VSA, for allowing these milestones to come to fruition.
Ottley stated that these milestones could have only been achieved through dedicated team work and offers his continuous support to SMMC on its trajectory to being able to expand its services to the general public of St. Maarten. “I look forward to attending more opening ceremonies of this kind that will provide better care locally for our people throughout my tenure as Minister of Public Health,” said Ottley.
With the official opening of these new centres, SMMC will now be able to offer services that once required referral abroad.
