Philipsburg:--- The Medical Director of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) Dr. George Scot and its legal representatives from HBN Law Maarten Le Poole pleaded with the judge in the administrative courts on Tuesday to force the Inspectorate of Health to lift the measures of higher supervision which were placed on the institution as of September 8th, 2012. Attorney at Law Maarten Le Poole told the judge that the negative publicity in the media has created a huge problem for the St. Maarten Medical Center because the people of St. Maarten have now lost confidence in their only hospital.
Attorney at Law Jairo Bloem who represented the Inspector General Dr. Earl Best said that the St. Maarten Medical Center has failed to comply with the requests of the Inspectorate and what the director of SMMC is trying to do now is to have the courts take away the powers of the Inspectorate. Bloem said Dr. George Scot does not even comply with the inspections that have to be conducted by the inspectorate. Bloem explained that the action plan of the SMMC which the inspector general requested was not submitted on time and Dr. George Scot submitted two action plans none of which he defended because he did not attend the meeting that was scheduled with the Inspector General Dr. Earl Best. Bloem said the three main tasks of the inspectorate is enforcement, complaint, and advice. 
Bloem further explained that based on the Inspection Regulation of 2002, everyone is obliged to cooperate with the supervisor. The supervisor (Inspectorate) has the right to request all information, demand access to all books, record and data carriers. The Inspectorate can go as far as copying this information or taking it from the institution (SMMC) temporarily. Bloem said the inspectorate conducted an investigation into several incidents and a report was sent to the SMMC for response in which they were given a specific period of time to respond. He said when SMMC did not comply the report was adopted and a letter was sent to the institution informing them of the actions that were taken by inspectorate which is to put SMMC under higher supervision, which means the board of directors must present a feasible action plan to the inspectorate within a two week time frame. This action plan is to address the many critical issues found at the institution, while the inspectorate will conduct announced and unannounced inspections at least three times per month as they follow up on the action plan. Judge van Veen will be giving his ruling at 2pm next Tuesday.
