The chair of an Aruba parliamentary committee has requested urgent HOH meetings with hospital stakeholders for next week.
Committee chair requests stakeholder sessions
Member of Parliament Shailiny Tromp-Lee, chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, Governmental Organization, Culture and Sports, instructed the committee secretary to convene meetings concerning the situation at Horacio Oduber Hospital. Her announcement said the sessions are intended to give Parliament a clearer account of the hospital’s financial and operational position.
Nineteen questions also sent to health minister
A separate letter from Tromp-Lee put 19 questions to Health Minister Mervin Wyatt-Ras. They seek confirmation of when the minister learned about the hospital situation, the loss of a third revenue stream, the effect on patients and waiting lists, the adequacy of AZV funding and safeguards for staff pay and retention.
Further parliamentary action may follow
Tromp-Lee said the committee will use the information from stakeholders to decide whether to invite the public health minister to a committee meeting or seek a public parliamentary meeting. The request follows recent warnings from hospital specialists and other parties about funding pressure at HOH. Claims about the scale of the crisis remain attributed to the announcement pending fuller official information.
