Beyond the numbers: The employees who keep the Medical Center moving

A small entry in St. Maarten Medical Center’s 2025 Annual Report tells a larger story about the people working inside the hospital.

A member of the Pediatrics In-Patient Ward proposed providing hospitalized children with coloring books and crayons. Supported by the department’s supervisor, manager and team, the initiative was intended to keep young patients calm, stimulate their minds and offer a break from screens. It was not a major construction project or an expensive medical program. It was an employee noticing something children needed and doing something about it.

That moment reflects a part of the annual report many readers may overlook.

Annual reports naturally draw attention to numbers. SMMC recorded 67,619 outpatient consultations, 10,998 Emergency Room visits and 13,641 dialysis treatments in 2025. Those figures show the volume of care delivered and the pressure placed on the hospital.

However, numbers do not show the nurses monitoring patients, technicians preparing equipment, employees processing medical information, pharmacists managing medication, cleaners maintaining clinical areas or administrative staff coordinating the many steps required before care can be delivered.

SMMC ended 2025 with 436 full-time employees, 10 more than the previous year. The workforce included 21 medical specialists, 11 other medical professionals, 196 employees providing direct patient care, 81 supporting patient care and 127 working in broader support roles.

Less than half of the workforce falls under direct patient care. The hospital also depends on employees working in pharmacy, finance, maintenance, human resources, information technology, medical records, procurement, infection control and other services that patients may rarely see.

Learning that changes care

Employee development was one of the strongest themes running through the report. Four registered nurses completed training to become certified pain consultants. Their studies began in 2023 through a collaboration involving SMMC, the HAN University of Applied Sciences and the White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation.

By June 2025, the nurses were qualified to work independently and had become key members of SMMC’s pain-management team. Their training supported the hospital’s Acute Pain Service, which was integrated into operations to improve the treatment of acute and postoperative pain. The service includes patient-controlled pain-relief pumps and hospital-wide guidelines intended to standardize care.

The achievement was therefore not simply four employees receiving certificates. Their new skills expanded what the hospital could offer patients.

Four nurses also completed the Critical Care Registered Nurse program, strengthening capacity in the Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit and inpatient wards. Two dialysis nurses completed guided vascular-access training, while others participated in pediatric advanced life-support, emergency triage, clinical-reasoning, wound-care and endoscopy courses.

SMMC also completed the final courses for 22 students enrolled in its Accelerated Registered Nursing program. They were expected to graduate formally in 2026. In a country where recruiting specialized healthcare workers can be difficult, developing employees already connected to the hospital helps build continuity and local capacity.

New services require teamwork

The report’s account of SMMC’s first peritoneal dialysis catheter placement provides another example of how progress depends on employees across departments.

General and Vascular Surgeon Dr. Evert Kesoemoarso completed the procedure on September 10. One patient subsequently began peritoneal dialysis, while others were screened for eligibility. The procedure required more than the work of a surgeon. The Dialysis Department educated its patients and employees and held information sessions for staff in other departments as part of a multidisciplinary approach.

That is how hospital services grow. One professional may perform a procedure, but nurses, technicians, educators, pharmacists and administrative employees must understand and support the new care pathway.

Employees were also preparing to train each other. Three nurses and an anesthesiologist attended a simulation-instructor course in the Netherlands, learning how to create medical scenarios, conduct briefings and evaluate team responses during emergencies.

The training forms part of SMMC’s plan to introduce simulation-based team education, allowing employees to practise communication, decision-making and clinical responses before facing those situations with actual patients.

Care beyond treatment

Some of the most human examples in the report took place outside formal medical procedures. The Dialysis Department organized a karaoke luau for its clients, with staff members performing to uplift patients and bring some enjoyment into an environment associated with repeated treatment and chronic illness.

During December, the Christmas Cheer Program featured daily entertainment, festive performances and a karaoke open microphone for patients and employees. Staff and patients also received fresh bush tea in recognition of St. Maarten Day.

Healthcare is often measured through diagnoses, procedures and outcomes. Patients also remember whether someone explained what was happening, noticed their discomfort, offered encouragement or helped them feel less alone. The report cannot measure every such interaction, but it shows employees repeatedly trying to make the hospital experience more humane.

Taking the hospital into the community

SMMC employees also carried their work beyond the hospital. During Literacy Month, staff visited schools to read to children and promote literacy. Specialists and nurses participated in public discussions and lectures, while medical professionals and volunteers supported preventive health screenings.

More than 150 men received prostate cancer and other screenings during Men’s Health Day. Another 150 women received clinical breast examinations and other health checks, while up to 100 uninsured women received vouchers for free mammograms.

During SMMC’s Open House, employees led behind-the-scenes tours and operated interactive booths representing the Emergency Room, Dialysis, the Operating Room and inpatient wards. Nursing staff also provided free screenings.

Sixty-five volunteers participated in a cleanup of Little Bay Pond with the St. Maarten Nature Foundation, removing five truckloads of garbage. Eleven SMMC employees also represented the hospital in the St. Maarten Day Relay Run.

The work patients rarely see

Several employee initiatives occurred far from the bedside but remained essential to patient care. The Human Resources Department developed the foundation of an employee portal designed to reduce manual email chains. The system allows employees to update records, submit documentation and process claims while notifying ICT, Facilities, Informatics and Infection Control about the needs of newly recruited staff. A doctor or nurse cannot begin working safely without clearance, identification, equipment and access to hospital systems.

Cay Hill Pharmacy employees also worked on inventory control, medication safety, automation and billing accuracy. Finance and procurement staff streamlined administrative processes, while ICT employees trained on hospital information systems, cybersecurity and electronic health records. This work may be largely invisible to patients, but it creates the conditions under which treatment becomes possible.

Preparing tomorrow’s hospital while operating today’s

SMMC employees were also helping to plan the move to the St. Maarten General Hospital while continuing to operate the current facility.

Staff contributed to equipment selection, departmental planning, workflow development and readiness assessments. The transition covers the movement of patients, families, employees, medication, supplies, information and equipment.

The challenge is considerable. Employees must maintain current services while learning the systems, technology and processes that will be required in the new hospital.

The report closes by thanking SMMC’s nurses, physicians, technicians, support staff, managers and Cay Hill Pharmacy employees. It notes that financial and operational results reflect their collective efforts, but that the real impact is found in the care delivered and the trust placed in the hospital by the community.

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