Philipsburg:--- Minister of Public Health Cornelius de Weever tore up a newspaper which he considers to be a tabloid newspaper. De Weever said doing so allows him to get things off of his chest. The Minister of Public Health, Labour, and Social Affairs said generally he respects freedom of the press but more so objective journalism. "With the headlines of the TODAY tabloid that is being used to mislead people I want to clear the air with regards to the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) because the people of St. Maarten need to know. It is clear that SMMC is busy with the wrong things. I have never given any instructions to the inspectorate; the inspectorate has a job to do which is what they are doing. The same way they handled the General Practitioners (GPs) and other health care institutions they are dealing with the SMMC, something they are being paid to do."
Minister de Weever also made clear that no business licenses have been issued to any potential American clinic and if those at SMMC are looking for any semblance of conflict of interest then SMMC and their legal team are looking in the wrong place.
The Minister of Health also distributed copies of the MOU letter of intent that was to be signed with the American Clinic where Dr. Hess was supposed to be the Managing Director. Minister de Weever said that document was to be signed by SMMC, the Government of St. Maarten, and the American Clinic but SMMC distanced itself from the MOU because a particular consulting company was not part of the agreement.
After making his statement the Minister of Health did not take questions from the reporters present at the press conference. However in an invited comment to SMN News, Minister de Weever admitted that government (his Ministry) has already hired the services of a law firm to take the necessary actions and do all that is necessary to address the issues at the St. Maarten Medical Center. SMN News learnt that the Minister of Health will be engaging the Courts to dismiss the Supervisory Board and Dr. George Scot while seeking the intervention of the prosecutor's office to take actions if any crimes were committed by anyone representing the St. Maarten Medical Center.
It has been months if not years now the media on St. Maarten have been reporting the inconsistencies at the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) under the guidance of Dr. George Scot who spends half of the year in the Netherlands. The "one man" show at the island's only medical institution has created a number of issues regarding proper health care. Currently, the hospital is functioning on a skeleton staff with its only intern specialist giving notice that he will quit the job as early as May 2013.
The latest scandal surrounding SMMC is the contract signed between SMMC and the company belonging to the MD Dr. George Scot. SMN News managed to obtain some documentation on the company that Dr. Scot registered in May 2008 at the Chamber of Commerce. AnG Consultancy does not have a contract with SMMC and while it is portrayed that the name on the contract is a simply slip of the pen. SMN News also obtain the articles of incorporation for the AnG Consultancy which is published below for our readers' pleasure.
Click here to view the Chamber Declaration on AnG Consulting/Consultancy.
Click here to view AnG Consultancy Articles of Incorporation.
