WILLEMSTAD - The Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) no longer wants to cooperate with the Analytical Diagnostic Center (ADC). This came as a big surprise to ADC director Lianne Cova.
According to Cova, ADC received a letter from CMC stating that the hospital no longer wants to work with the laboratory. The letter is currently being discussed internally. ADC wants Minister of Health, Nature and Environment Dorothy Pietersz-Janga to mediate between the two parties. Cova: "Enough investments have been made and we are very concerned."
ADC received a permit at the beginning of July for the construction of a modern laboratory in Otrobanda. The construction was mainly focused on cooperation with the CMC.
The new building would be constructed on the site where the warehouse of the old hospital used to be, across the street from CMC. Since November 2019, ADC has functioned as a hospital lab. Several disciplines were at ADC Vredenberg and they moved to ADC Roodeberg to serve CMC 24/7.
To be able to provide the right level of service to a 'State of the Art hospital', ADC has already implemented many modernizations and has switched to ultra-modern technology. 'Pneumatic tube mail' is an example of this: a method of rapid transport (from one location to another takes about 30 seconds) of collected blood and urine via a network of pipes from CMC to ADC Roodeweg. Modernization and advanced technology will not be forthcoming in the new building either; everything to ensure that the health sector will function at a higher level.
But it seems that the relationship between CMC and ADC has not been going well for a while. An example of this is, among other things, last year's dispute regarding invoicing. CMC was not satisfied and also disagreed with ADC that certain services were being charged. CMC then investigated and found out that the services had indeed been offered.
But it also seems that CMC is not happy with the 'late receipt of results' when they make test requests. According to CMC, the pipe system does not work optimally.
It is now understood that CMC has a strong preference for working with a private laboratory instead of the national laboratory ADC. However, it is a fact that there are different types of tests that can only be done in ADC's lab.
The developments will be followed to see what caused the abrupt break and whether the minister can glue everything back together.