WILLEMSTAD - Jan Huurman, former inspector of the Curaçao Inspection for Public Health, has recently called for financial contributions from the Netherlands to the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC), which he deems financially unsustainable for Curaçao. This plea comes after his involvement in the parliamentary inquiry into the decision-making surrounding the construction of the hospital, where the former inspector was questioned as an expert. 

Huurman, who worked as an inspector between 2012-2013 and from mid-2017 to 2019, expressed concerns about the exorbitant costs of the CMC. He states that the hospital, which has accumulated a debt of 264 million guilders in four years, is too burdensome for the public health budget in Curaçao. Huurman emphasizes that this debt burden is not only financially unsustainable but also jeopardizes the quality of public health on the island. 

According to the former inspector, the deficits of the CMC should not be compensated by other areas of healthcare, such as prevention and general practitioner care, which would further undermine the already moderate state of public health. He criticizes the decision-making regarding the location of the hospital and the associated budget overruns. 

Kingdom 

Huurman suggests transferring secondary healthcare to the Kingdom level, making the Netherlands jointly responsible, including financially. This is because, according to him, the Financial Supervision College ignored all warnings about the costs. He sees opportunities for structural improvements, including a merger between CMC and Fundashon Mariadal on Bonaire, and possibly the Horacio Oduber Hospital on Aruba. 

The former inspector emphasizes that his proposal is drastic but deems it necessary to prevent the decline of Curaçao's healthcare and the deterioration of public health. He considers this a matter of civilization within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.