After a few months of hard work from the team at HOH, the Board of Directors is glad to inform the community of the latest positive developments about staffing at the Gynecology clinic. Before that, we would like to thank you once again for your patience, and above all we would like to thank the team of our gynecology clinic for their dedication and efforts to do their utmost best in difficult times. A few months ago, the Horacio Oduber Hospital (HOH) emitted information regarding longer waiting times and the change of doctors at our Gynecology clinic. We informed the public about the current situation with the request for comprehension and patience from our patients, the public and employees. Reason behind this was the current high pressure on the number of gynecologists. Some decided due to personal reasons to change their career. At the same time, we had manpower discussions with AZV about the number of gynecologists, which made the situation challenging. We were reduced from 7 to 5 gynecologists. We are happy we recently agreed with AZV to have 6 gynecologists contracted at the hospital, and maybe in the near future go back to 7 gynecologists.
Vacancy and substitution
As is known for some time now, there is a worldwide shortage of medical staff and specialists. Our recruitment department has been working very hard finding replacements that meets our qualifications. We are happy to inform that in the month of November, the team at our gynecology clinic will be welcoming Dr. Femke Siemonsma and in January of 2024 we say bon bini to Dr. Sofie Hamers and Dr. Dominque Bos. Also Dr. Sietske Althuisius, who just left for retirement, will come back to strengthen the team for an additional year. In the meantime, Dr. Daphne Moreta (president of the group) together with Dr. Alejandro Garcia ensure the continuity of the group. In addition, Dr. Babet Latour will be giving care until the end of November, before taking on a new challenge in The Netherlands. The open vacancies are continuously filled to 6 FTE temporarily with substitute specialists: Dr. Marcela Realpe, Dr. Frank Ho-Kang-You, Dr. Gunilla Kleiverda and Dr. Soerin Mahadew.
Appreciation
We are doing our utmost to guarantee care for our patients and to bring balance back to our gynecology group. Not only to fulfill the vision of our organization: ‘accessible healthcare for everyone without compromising on quality’, but also to provide a pleasant place to work for our employees. The coming months, we will work to reduce waiting times for an appointment to an acceptable number of days. A certain waiting time will always be there and compared to other countries, waiting times in Aruba are in general quite acceptable. However, we understand of course that when you are ill, or having problems, you want to be seen as quickly as possible. Important to mention is that emergencies always are and have been attended to immediately. Once again, the Board of Directors is grateful and want to express their gratitude to all
employees and patients for their patience and ask kindly to continue to have mutual respect for the current circumstances.
