First “Future of Healthcare in the Dutch Caribbean” conference successfully held | News item

News | 21-06-2024 | 18:04

The meeting was held in response to the final report prepared by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, “The Caribbean Netherlands – A review of the health system”. The report provides a detailed overview of the current state of healthcare in the Caribbean Netherlands, the results achieved since 2010, and the improvements needed to bring healthcare to the level of the European Netherlands. The report is here To find.

The ZJCN brings together chain partners and stakeholders to explore opportunities and challenges in healthcare through its Healthcare Conference. The Dutch Caribbean faces unique healthcare challenges. In addition to the actual care backlog, the island characteristics bring special needs and vulnerabilities. In addition, health issues, health literacy, healthcare experiences and expectations are different from those in the European Netherlands.

Attendees

During the conference, experts came together to share their insights on topics such as equal care, the future of healthcare systems and digitalization. Together, they discussed how to guarantee the quality and accessibility of care in a sustainable way. Speakers included Tie Tjee, Senior Advisor for Strategic Network Leadership, and Jamiu Busari, a pediatrician at Horacio Oduber Hospital and Professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Canada, and Associate Professor at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Representatives Nina Den Heyer (Bonaire), Reuben Merkman (Sint Eustatius) and Eviton Heyliger (Saba) also attended the conference and shared their valuable experiences and insights.

Workshop

In addition to inspiring speakers, various workshops were held, including “The Future of Healthcare”, “Digitalization” and “Health Systems in Transformation (HiT)”. During the HiT workshop, Ewout van Ginneken and Nathan Shuftan explained in detail the findings of the final report. In addition, field trips to various health facilities in Bonaire were organized, such as Fundashon Mariadal Hospital.

Cooperation and equality are important themes

An important conclusion was that cooperation between islands and with chain partners is an important factor in continuing to improve care together. Equality was also a recurring theme. For example, it was discussed whether care in the Caribbean Netherlands should be the same as care in the European Netherlands. One participant responded by saying: “We should not focus on equality compared to the European Netherlands, but rather strive to provide the best care for our islands.”

There was a good attendance from chain partners from the Dutch Caribbean, Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten and together we could look back on a very successful first edition.