PHILIPSBURG – ‘Shady business taking place at USZV, Medwork and Medicosmetics’; thus read a recent headline on a notorious gossip-blog. The underlying article spoke of a “shady affiliation’ of Medwork with SZV, of a doctor who is not allowed to practice medicine in St. Maarten, a non-transparent tender process for a contract to supply the island with medical supplies and of a questionable relationship between SZV-director Glen Carty and Labco/Mediocosmetics owner Jan Beaujon.

While the article created the impression that the relationship between Medwork (full name: Medwork Corporate Health Solutions) and Social and Health Insurance SZV is something new, SZV says that it has worked with Medwork for many years.

“Medwork started  dedicated occupational health services by registered medical specialist,” SZV-director Glen Carty said through his Customer Care and Communications Department manager Parveen Boertje. “They advise about an employee’s fitness for work. Due to their work, the cost of absenteeism will decrease.”

SZV emphasizes that Medwork is contracted by employers and that SZV does not pay Medwork anything for its services. Based on the National Ordinance Sickness Insurance, the role of SZV is “to assess the right to loss of wages.”

The Medwork doctor sees the employee on the first day of being unfit for work. The employee has to report to the SZV-doctor on the third day between 7:30 and 10 a.m. The SZV control doctor will assess the employee and register the period during which the employee is unable to work. This period determines the right to loss of wages for the employer who can claim reimbursement from SZV.

The blog-article mentions Joanne Siebel as Medwork’s general manager and physician, adding that Siebel “is not allowed to practice medicine on St. Maarten.” But SZV says that Siebel is BIG-registered in the Netherlands and that she is also registered with the Ministry of Public Health. BIG stands for Beroepen in de Individuele Gezondheidszorg – Professions in Individual Healthcare).

“She is knowledgeable in occupational medicine and preventive care.” Siebel is also a member of the tripartite committee that advises the Ministry of Public Health on labor-related issues.

Mediocosmetics is mentioned in the blog-post as the company that “replaced” Alpha Healthcare as the provider of medical supplies in St. Maarten. “It was clear that the tendering process was not transparent and that the director of USZV Glen Carty is in cahoots with the owners, Jan Beaujon of Mediocosmetics and Labco.” (Labco is the predecessor of Mediocosmetics).

SZV provided detailed information about the tender process that resulted in the contract for Mediocosmetics. On four consecutive dates in October 2018, SZV published an Expression of Interest announcement in the Daily Herald in St. Maarten and the Amigoe in Curacao.

Fifteen companies expressed their interest. An evaluation committee selected seven bids that were in accordance with the tender procedures. Two companies were chosen from this group, based on quality and price and all bidders were informed about the results.

“All companies in the field of medical aids and prosthetics had the chance last year during the period of Expression of Interest, after seeing the announcements in the local newspapers to submit their expression of interest to SZV or to contact SZV for more information,” Carty said.

Lastly, SZV emphasized that “no current SZV staff members are working in the companies mentioned in your questions.” (This refers to Medwork and Mediocosmetics – ed.). “Former staff member Mr. Ramzy Dennaoui is, according to verified information, not related to these companies.”

The first reaction to the blog-post came, maybe not surprisingly, from Deb Alpha of Alpha Healthcare. “This is only the beginning as I told you all. SXM-ers will suffer as well as all professionals if this is not stopped.”

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Related article:

Opinion: “A balanced approach”

By Hilbert Haar

Medwork Corporate Health Solutions is a provider of occupational health services. For employers who contract these services, Medwork is the first stop for employees who are unfit to work due to illness. Medwork takes people’s house doctors out of the equation and that changes the position of employees dramatically.

I cannot say this for every general practitioner in St. Maarten, but I do know that there are at least some doctors who are prepared to declare their healthiest patients unfit for work upon request. With Medwork that is obviously not going to fly. The company is paid by the employer and its task is to assess whether an employee is really unfit for work.

In my opinion, this is a step in the right direction. Reporting ill while you are healthy is not my idea of doing the honorable thing.

Performance-driven companies have a tendency to go even further in their efforts to drive down absenteeism. One company I worked for as an external writer in the past, developed a strategy whereby co-workers were asked to call their absent colleagues and ask them how they were doing, thereby stressing that their absence put undue pressure on those who did turn up for work.

There is of course a limit to the amount of pressure an employer can put on employees to show up for work. Maybe more important is that employers should take a serious interest in the well-being of their employees. An unhappy worker is an unproductive – and at times a counter-productive – employee.

I think that this is where providers of occupational health services are able to play a role that is beneficial to both parties, because they are trained to look into the reason why an employee is unfit to work.

It is not always the flu or a migraine. It could also be due to conditions at work, the behavior of colleagues, work-overload – you name it. Small changes could at times bring about great results.

Employers have a duty to provide their employees with a safe working environment. Companies should also have clearly established house rules. That way, employees know what is expected of them, also in case of illness or other circumstances that prevent them from coming to work.

Occupational health services providers can help employers and employees in situations where things don’t work out. A condition is that they opt for a balanced approach that does justice to the interests of both parties.