WILLEMSTAD - In a press release, the government of Curaçao indicated that is has been working together with the national crisis team to solve the many challenges surrounding the COVID-19 situation on the island as optimally as possible. The required additional staff at the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) is and will remain high on the agenda. The government says it has decided to finance the costs of the additional staff requested by the CMC (40 intensive care nurses and 8 medical specialists) for the next 3 months. This will be done based on the agreements made with the board of the CMC.
The government indicated that the reasons why this decision could not be taken at an earlier stage are because it did not receive a cost estimate for the necessary additional staff from the CMC until August 9, 2021. Only then could the government assess the costs and make a responsible decision. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that if the cost estimate had been received earlier, this would have had a positive impact on the decision moment, says the government.
The government established that the budgeted accommodation costs over a period of 3 months amount to 1/3 of the total financing requirement. This corresponds to an amount of approximately NAf 1 million over a period of 3 months. The government considers this amount unreasonable. As a result, it has been agreed with the board of the CMC that this amount should be significantly lower. The board of the CMC is currently updating their budget, so that the housing costs may not exceed 20% of the total.
The government also established that the budgeted fees of employment agencies over a period of 3 months amount to NAf 425,700. The government considers this amount unreasonable. As a result, it has been agreed with the board of the CMC that this amount should be lower. The board of the CMC is currently updating their budget, so that the fee for employment agencies may not exceed 17.5% of the total personnel costs from the TMI (TMI is the employment agency in the Netherlands).
The government considers it a good development that the board of the CMC is currently committed to reducing the budgeted housing costs and fees for employment agencies. It is important to spend scarce resources on patient-related costs (personnel costs, etc.) instead of on non-patient-related costs (housing costs, etc.).
The government says it continues to monitor the situation at the CMC. The care to be provided to the Curaçao people remains a priority in this regard. Of course, the usefulness and necessity of the projected costs will remain a point of attention.