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Request for Letter of Interest (RLOI)
Strategic Partnership in Specialized Medical Services for
St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH)
FINAL TIME AND DATE FOR RECEIPT OF LETTER OF INTERST
4:00 p.m. (St. Maarten local time), July 1, 2025
ADDRESS FOR SUBMISSIONS of the Letters of Interest (Digital):
Digital copy to: communications@smmc.sx
Attn: Ms. Bonnie Dekker
Disclaimer
The information contained in this RLOI is of general nature and for information purposes only. This RLOI may not include all information that is necessary to consider all the circumstances of the Strategic Partnership.
SMMC reserves all its rights, in particular the right to decide at any time at its sole discretion to amend or terminate this Request for a Letter of Interest and or re-issue a new request for a Letter of Interest at a later time.
Participating in this RLOI and submitting a letter of Interest indicates acceptance by the Participant of the terms and conditions of the RLOI. The Letter of Interest must include all requested information.
SMMC reserves the right not to evaluate a Letter of Interest that does not include all requested information which may result in disqualification from further participation in the tender process for a Strategic Partnership.
1. PURPOSE AND PROJECT OBJECTIVES
St. Maarten Medical Center Foundation (SMMC), established under the laws of Sint Maarten invites qualified medical service providers (hereinafter referred to as Participants) to provide a Letter of Interest to form a Strategic Partnership (hereinafter Strategic Partnership) for the development of a Medical Tourism Unit (hereinafter MTU) within the St. Maarten General Hospital (hereafter SMGH) which is currently being constructed and will open its doors by the end of 2027.
The MTU will be located on the top floor of the SMGH main building, offering 896 square meters of space designated for medical tourism. The purpose of this Requests for a letter of interest (hereafter RLOI) is to identify a Strategic Partner who will invest in the required infrastructure and operations and deliver complementary medical services to (international and local) patients, creating mutual benefits for both the Strategic Partner and SMMC.
The primary objective of this Strategic Partnership is to offer specialized medical services that complement those medical services provided by SMGH, enhancing the range of treatments available to local and international patients.
The objective of this RLOI is to provide high-level explanation of the scope of the Strategic Partnership and the prequalification conditions of the RLOI. With this RLOI, SMMC is collecting information from organizations that might be invited by SMMC for the Tender for a Strategic Partnership for the development of a MTU within the SMGH. SMMC will evaluate the received information and determine in its sole discretion if an organization will be invited for the next step of the selection process, the Request for Proposal (RFP).
The selection process consists of the following phases:
Enquiries
For further information and/or questions regarding this RLOI, please contact Ms. Bonnie Dekker, via email: communications@smmc.sx. SMMC developed this dedicated webpage.for this RLOI. Participants are advised to check this webpage on a regular basis as SMMC will communicate updates on this RLOI via this webpage.
2. BACKGROUND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
St. Maarten is a Caribbean island located in the northeastern region of the Lesser Antilles (approx. 180 miles East of Puerto Rico), known for its strategic position as a key hub between North America, Latin America and Europe. The island is divided into two territories: the northern French side (Saint Martin) and the southern Dutch side (St. Maarten), the latter being an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. St. Maarten is renowned for its vibrant tourism industry, beautiful beaches and well-developed infrastructure, including Princess Juliana International Airport, which is one of the busiest in the region. With a population of around 43,000, the island's economy heavily relies on tourism, but it is also increasingly focused on developing sectors like healthcare and medical tourism to diversify its income streams. The island's official languages are Dutch and English, with tourism driving a multilingual culture. While having its own currency, the Antillean Guilder (soon to be replaced by the Caribbean Guilder), the island is predominantly doing business in US Dollars, which is widely accepted.
St. Maarten is strategically positioned in the North Eastern Caribbean to become a medical tourism hub, leveraging its central location in the Caribbean and proximity to key regions like North America and Latin America. The island offers a unique opportunity to provide high-quality medical services at competitive prices, focusing on quality rather than price competition. With modern healthcare facilities, such as the St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH) - currently being constructed and is projected to be fully operational by end 2027 - and a commitment to achieving internationally recognized standards such as Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation, the island is well-equipped to attract international patients.
The development of medical tourism will generate significant economic benefits for both SMGH and the island, as well as increased tourism activity from accompanying travelers. Furthermore, by offering complementary medical services to those already provided by SMGH, medical tourism will reduce the need for local patients to seek care abroad, while also enhancing local healthcare capabilities through partnerships, training, and staff exchanges.
St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) is an ambitious and growing hospital organization with more than 430 employees, 28 medical specialists with a current capacity of 80 beds, SMMC continuously strives to ensure safe, quality health care for the St. Maarten community and surrounding islands. Reference is made to our website (smmc.sx).
The primary service area is St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba which represents a total population of approximately 60.000 people, constituting a multi-cultural mix with more than 100 different nationalities. In addition, SMMC offers health care services to approx. 2 million annual visiting tourists.
SMMC is constructing a new hospital, the St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH), which will be a prominent medical institution in the Northeastern Caribbean in order to continue to deliver “high quality care, close to home” in light of the increased care demand of the people of St. Maarten, its visitors and neighboring islands. SMGH will be a state-of-the-art hospital, Category 5 hurricane resilient and means an expansion of the current facilities to the following:
SMGH will employ approximately 452 FTE. The SMGH is expected to be fully operational at the end of 2027.
SMGH will offer the following medical specialties:
Various sub-specialties are also offered. A Cath-Lab and VR surgery will be added to the roster of services shortly after becoming operational at SMGH.
SMMC is looking to enter into a Strategic Partnership Agreement of which the highlights are indicated below and will be fine-tuned during the negotiations.
Starting points of the Strategic Partnership
SMMC provides an investment opportunity for medical service providers that want to (further) develop their medical tourism activities:
The Strategic Partner, preferably already well established, will provide:
Lay-out of the 3rd floor of the St. Maarten General Hospital. The gray space on the right bottom corner is designated as the space (896 square meters in total) for the Strategic Medical Partner to establish operations.
In order to understand the background of the Participant, its medical qualifications and its experience with providing medical services outside your country of origin, Participants are required to provide the following information with the Letter of Interest.
Please provide the following information:
Integrity is of great importance for SMMC. Therefore the Participant must include and confirm the following anti-bribery paragraph in the Letter of Interest which will become a part of the Strategic Partnership Agreement:
“[Organization name] hereby undertakes that, at the date of issuing this information, itself, its directors, officers or employees have not offered, promised, given, authorized, solicited or accepted any undue pecuniary or other advantage of any kind (or implied that they will or might do any such thing at any time in the future) in any way connected with the Strategic Partnership agreement and that it has taken reasonable measures to prevent agents, contractors or any other third parties, subject to its control or determining influence, from doing so.”
The Letter of Interest should be received by SMMC not later than July 1 ,2025 reference is made to section 5. It is our intent to provide the RFP on September 15, 2025 and to select the Strategic Partner not later than April 30, 2026.
You can issue your questions in writing via email communications@smmc.sx to Ms. Bonnie Dekker.
Time and Date for Receipt of Letter of Interest
A signed digital copy of the Letter of Interest must be emailed, not later than July 1, 2025 to communications@smmc.sx, attention: Ms. Bonnie Dekker, St. Maarten Medical Center, Welgelegen Road 30, Cay Hill, St. Maarten
All Letters of Interest and subsequent information or material received shall become the property of SMMC and shall not be returned. SMMC reserves the right to make extra copies of the Letter of Interest for use during the RLOI and or Tender process only.
SMMC aims to review all submissions and come to a shortlist no later than September 15, 2025. The aim is to come to an agreement with the preferred Strategic Partner by April 30, 2026.
No Amendments to Letters of Interest After Submission
A Participant shall not be permitted to change the wording or contents of the Letter of Interest after submission to SMMC, unless requested to do so by SMMC for the purpose of clarification.
Withdrawal of Letters of Interest
Any Participant may withdraw its Letter of Interest by written request to SMMC’s Representative, Ms. Bonnie Dekker, at any time prior to the scheduled closing date and time noted in this RLOI.
SMMC may exclude, at its sole discretion, Participants if they:
For a Participant to be eligible to participate in this RLOI, the Participant must meet all requirements as described in this RLOI and the Letter of Interest must be responsive to this RLOI. Letters of Interest which do not comply with all the terms and conditions of this RLOI will be rejected as non-responsive, unless SMMC, in its sole discretion, determines that the non-compliance is not considered material.
SMMC may at any time disqualify a Participant upon the event that the Participant provides SMMC with a false statement and/or a false document of any sort or in case there is (a suspicion) of collusion of any kind with another Participant to influence the RLOI, SMMC or other Participants.
The general rules of tender laws (de algemene beginselen van aanbestedingsrecht) are explicitly excluded from this RLOI and the thereto related Tender for a Strategic Partnership.
Submission of a Letter of Interest by any Participant and its subsequent receipt by SMMC does not constitute a commitment on the part of SMMC to proceed further with any Participant.
No contractual or other legal obligations or relationship between SMMC and any Participant can or will be created prior to the termination of this RLOI and the thereto related Tender for a Strategic Partnership, or otherwise, except in a written contract executed by authorized signatories of SMMC.
SMMC is entitled to cancel this RLOI at any time without liability for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or suffered by any Participant as a result of that cancellation.
In considering any Letters of Interest delivered in response to this RLOI, SMMC reserves the absolute and unfettered discretion to assess, accept or reject any or all Letters of Interest. SMMC reserves the right to add or remove Participants at its sole discretion. SMMC also reserves the right to seek additional Letters of Interest from any other party or parties. At all times, SMMC can terminate any discussions and/or negotiations with any Participant with or without reason and may continue negotiations with any party that it desires.
No one other than SMMC’s CEO can officially bind SMMC, which is contingent on obtaining the required approval from SMMC’s Supervisory Board.
SMMC may request the Participant to clarify aspects of its Letter of Interest or to confirm on the condition that this leaves the intrinsic aspects of the Letter of Interest unchanged and the clarification does not lead to unfair competition or discrimination. SMMC may require clarification after the dates and times set out in this RLOI from any one or more of the Participants in respect of Letter of Interest submitted.
SMMC may communicate with, meet with, or negotiate with any one or more of the Participants respecting their Letters of Interest or any aspects of the services outlined herein.
SMMC is not obligated to proceed to Strategic Partnership Agreement awarding or to actually award the Strategic Partnership Agreement and it shall inform the Participants in writing. SMMC shall not be obligated to provide any information on the reasons for such decision or with regard to the (subsequent) Strategic Partnership Agreement awarding.
SMMC evaluates the Letters of Interest received on the basis of these terms and conditions and determines in its sole discretion.
SMMC has used all considerable efforts to ensure an accurate representation of information in this RLOI. However, SMMC accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this RLOI (including any schedules, appendices or addenda) and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made or given by SMMC with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the RLOI (including any schedules, appendices or addenda).
Each Participant is solely responsible for the risk and cost of preparing and submitting its Letter of Interest in response to this RLOI and neither SMMC nor its officials, employees or consultants (including SMMC’s Representative) are liable for the cost of doing so or obliged to remunerate or reimburse any Participant for that cost.
The sole risk, responsibility and liability connected with reliance by any Participant or any other person on this RLOI is that of each Participant.
Each Participant hereby expressly waives any right to claim compensation for any damages or losses against SMMC or any of its directors, SMMC’s Representative, agents, consultants as a result of responding to this RLOI, the participation in or exclusion of the RLOI, the content of the awarding decision or SMMC not entering into the Strategic Partnership Agreement.
This RLOI is the property of SMMC and is not to be copied or distributed without prior approval of SMMC.
Any information acquired about SMMC by a Participant during this process must not be disclosed unless authorized by SMMC and this obligation will survive the termination of this RLOI and the thereto related Tender for a Strategic Partnership process. The awarding of any contract or the reaching of any agreement for the provision of services to SMMC will not permit any Strategic Partner to advertise a relationship with SMMC without SMMCs prior authorization.
All documentation received from the Contractor will become the property of SMMC.
The General Terms and Conditions of the RLOI and all related documents are exclusively governed by Sint Maarten law.
Any dispute between the persons involved with the RLOI shall be submitted exclusively to the Court in First Instance of Sint Maarten.
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