WILLEMSTAD - A large portion of medical treatments that cannot be performed on Bonaire are conducted on the nearby islands of Curaçao and Aruba. This information comes from the recently published report, "The Caribbean Netherlands Health System Review."
Medical referrals from Sint Eustatius and Saba in 2023 went to Sint Maarten 90 percent of the time. Other referrals were mainly to Colombia and the Netherlands.
Annually, an average of about 5,658 patients are referred for care outside the BES islands, based on data from 2017 to 2023. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of medical treatments performed on other islands was significantly lower.
The total cost for medical referrals in 2023 was 43.7 million dollars, including both logistical and medical expenses.