The Health of our Nation is the Wealth of our Nation
The National Alliance is committed to providing resources to improve the health and well being of all residents. We favor the transformation of our health care system, making it one that assures people that their personal medical needs will be met and that public health will be safeguarded and strengthened.
The National Alliance will:
- Increase the tariffs that the hospital receives from insurance companies, especially from SZV to develop and improve the health care provider services to the residents of St. Maarten This will increase the hospital's bottom line making it possible for the hospital to pay its current bills and allowing the foundation to properly plan for expansion. We can then also afford to attract the best physicians and other medical personnel by offering them competitive salaries, while compensating current staff at better wages.
- Focus on getting state of the art equipment which caters to the highest risk patients of our St. Marten and the surrounding islands. This entails MRI scan and upgrading the mammogram machine as some examples.
- We will develop a standard of care protocols that directly addresses the needs of those high risk members of our population and make it mandatory that all health insurance providers pay for these services. That includes making sure preventative and early detection procedures for HPV, HIV, Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer and others are covered as well as ensuring there is a standard Prenatal Care program.
- Collaborate with stakeholders including the Board, Management and the Health Care Professionals at SMMC to finalize plans to expand the existing Medical Centre to accommodate more patients and provide additional onsite services based on the needs of the community and surrounding islands e.g. state of the art operating rooms, a mid level ICU and a larger and better equipped emergency room
- Automate and upgrade health care data to be able to address health care needs in proactive, efficient and effective manner
- Invest in campaigns aimed at bringing home our local medical professionals currently residing/working in other countries to be able to make proper use of the planned expansion.
- Promote medical tourism initiatives which would also increase services to the local population
- Implement policies to ensure mandatory medical coverage for all residents of St. Maarten (National Health Care Plan). We will deal with every aspect of health care, from patients to finances, to nurses to improving the quality of life of our patients
- We will support the recommendations of our Department of Public health to stimulate healthy living as well as to:
- Promote the overall health of the society in order to reduce and prevent the high incidences of cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other preventable diseases
- Build a healthy and socially supportive community through education, prevention, protection and care
- Develop and evaluate policies, laws and regulations with regards to public health healthcare services in general including vulnerable groups' e.g. seniors, elderly, physically and mentally challenged and the under-insured
- Maintain sound financial health management in connection with SZV
The National Alliance will:
- Treat our citizens with dignity and respect by providing the best services in areas of health promotion, health protection, emergency services, social security, community development, social work and counseling.
- Implement policy to increase the post birth maternity leave from 6 weeks to 10 weeks, making it a total of 16 weeks maternity leave.
- Implement two (2) week paternity leave for all fathers in order for the fathers to participate fully in the bonding process of their newborn.
- Provide opportunities for all health care employees to be able to take customer service courses on an annual basis and create an enforced and accessible platform for customer and patient complaints.
- Continue to support the upgrading of medical professionals and staff as well as service delivery at the St. Maarten Medical Center; through collaboration with the American University of the Caribbean and other institutions on the island and in the region
- Promote good personal and public-health habits through public education awareness programs in our schools and the wider community
- Provide more access to safe Reproductive Health Services and Family Planning
- Increase funding for Mental Health Facilities, Drug Abuse Facilities and outpatient services.
- Implement programs that address Nutritional, Hygiene and Health standards to meet the needs of the poor and vulnerable in keeping with international regulations
- We will continue to support the HIV & Aids Prevention Programs:
- We will work with the St. Maarten HIV/AIDS program management team and the Aids Foundation to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDs and reduce its impact.
- We will work to enhance HIV/AIDS awareness among our citizens, particularly adolescents.
NA Press Release
