More Than 2,000 Clients Use Respaldo Services
The latest figures put Respaldo mental health capacity under sharper scrutiny. Respaldo care manager Milouschka Boekhoudt told 24ora that the organization has about 2,132 active clients, including approximately 500 people receiving guidance at home from professionals such as social workers and nurses.
The organization also provides specialized services for adults, children, young people and expectant mothers. Children and teenagers generally attend appointments and treatment before returning to their usual environment, while pregnancy-related mental-health cases are handled without being placed on the regular waiting list, according to Boekhoudt.
Nine Acute Beds Carry the Most Visible Pressure
Respaldo’s acute-care unit operates from the former PAAZ hospital building, which is nearly 40 years old and is rented from Dr. Horacio E. Oduber Hospital. The unit has nine beds and two isolation rooms for people in severe psychiatric crisis.
Boekhoudt said admissions can stop when both isolation rooms are occupied by patients who are not yet stable enough to move into the general ward. Respaldo also has a waiting list that remains full as new referrals arrive. Fundacion Mama Tisa is supporting an initiative for a new building intended to improve the island’s longer-term mental-health infrastructure.
Legal Limits and Aftercare Shape the Wider Response
Health Minister Mervin Wyatt-Ras separately said most Respaldo placements are voluntary and that legal safeguards limit how long a person can be held against their wishes. The government is fine-tuning a crisis-response protocol between police and Respaldo, while a proposal to reuse a facility at Centro di Cota awaits parliamentary approval for Social Investment Fund financing.
Wyatt-Ras also cited an agreement with the Brasami rehabilitation centre in Curaçao for clients needing intensive care. Together, the capacity figures and the government’s stated plans show that crisis stabilization, addiction treatment and sustained community follow-up remain connected parts of Aruba’s response.
Additional reporting: 24ora supporting report.
Source: 24ora.
