Yesterday's front page news that the number of specialists at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) will be increased by three or four this year is most welcome. That the Dutch Government's interest in this matter is mostly on behalf of its overseas public entities St. Eustatius and Saba doesn't change the fact that it will benefit the local community as well.
Treating people from those two islands here rather than in Guadeloupe or even Colombia obviously makes good sense due to their proximity. That is even more the case now that Curaçao is becoming less and less of an option due to the declining level of health care there, particularly at St. Elisabeth Hospital.
It also will be cheaper, and not just because of the shorter travel distance. Recent media reports suggest that patients sent to other countries often can't be helped right away and sometimes spend days or even weeks waiting for their turn in a hotel, at the expense of the insurance provider, which most of the time is government-owned.
SMMC director Dr. George Scot already had explained during the recent visit by Dutch parliamentarians that one must look in a different way at the question whether bringing in more specialists is financially justified. He first made a comparison with Amsterdam Zuidoost, which has population characteristics similar to St. Maarten's.
If one extrapolates only the average number of persons who see a certain type of specialist in that part of the capital of the Netherlands to the situation on the island and applies the rates currently being paid for such by local insurers, it would not be feasible. However, if one adds the travel and accommodation expenses involved in treatment abroad, it's quite a different story.
Taking into account that there were a total of 4,500 medical referrals from Statia and Saba alone last year, it stands to reason the Dutch Government would save a considerable amount of money by having more specialist care available "next door" at SMMC. Considering the latest development in Curaçao, in certain cases it might even be worth it for Bonaire and its 7,000 referrals in 2011.
