St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), Social and Health Insurances SZV, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding granting SMMC temporary usage rights for a parcel of land at the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex. The parcel of land will be used for parking by SMMC for the duration of the construction of the St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH).
During the signing, the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, Ardwell Irion said “I am pleased to be a part of the process and assisting the hospital in getting what they need to move forward. I am also taking these arrangements into consideration as we anticipate the upgrade of the sport facilities which will benefit everyone of all ages and all interests within our community”.
“The commitment from government to the work together with SMMC and SZV to designate land for SMMC’s temporary parking and the future office building of SZV is another progressive step to providing quality care close to home. The new SZV office building will support our objectives of enhancing our customers’ experience, something that is lacking in our current office building with parking limitations being one of the biggest hassles when visiting us” remarked SZV Director, Glen Carty.
“We would to thank SZV and the Council of Ministers, especially Minister Irion, for their cooperation and enthusiasm with regards to the signing of this MOU. The signing of this MOU means a safer, more permanent solution for parking for our patients, visitors, and staff. As part of our commitment to our community and as compensation for the usage of the land, we will bear the costs of upgrading the basketball court at the John Cooper Jose Lake Sr. Ball Park to a multipurpose sports field for basketball, netball, volleyball, and hockey” said SMMC’s Chief Financial Officer, Marco Meuleman.
“Since the start of the construction of SMGH, we have been temporarily using the parking lots at the Belair Community and Fitness Center and the Jehovah’s Witness. We would like to extend our gratitude to the management and staff of the Belair Community and Fitness Center, the Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses for allowing us to make use of their premises while we arranged an alternative solution. Their cooperation allowed us to proceed with the construction of SMGH with no delays” concluded Meuleman.
SMMC would like to thank all patients, visitors, and staff for their understanding and cooperation and would like to apologize for any inconveniences that this may have caused. Information about the new parking situation will follow in a subsequent press release.