LITTLE BAY--Key officials in Social and Health Care Insurances SZV wrapped up a two-day strategy workshop with Dutch health insurance company De Friesland Interim Manager Rob Feenstra on Thursday, as part of efforts to iron out a three-year strategic plan for SZV for 2015 to 2017.
Feenstra, who boasts many years of experience in structuring and organising companies that operate in the health care field, told The Daily Herald that the session is intended to get the feedback of participants on how the strategic plan should be structured and what should be included. Participating in the meeting held at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort were SZV top management, department managers, key staff members with advisory functions and C-level staffers (Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer).
Feenstra said issues such as service, keeping cost affordable, sustainability and accessibility are some of the areas that have to be addressed in the strategic plan.
He said while SZV is primarily there to provide residents with insurance coverage for better health care and quality health care with health care providers in St. Maarten, sustainability and accessibility are also important parts of the process. He said it is important that clients can afford the service being provided and that this affordability is sustainable in the coming years. "People are getting older and health care cost is increasing. People have to pay more premiums to get better quality health care in the future so you have to take measures and make plans to provide sustainable health care in St. Maarten for the coming years and for the next generation," Feenstra said.
According to the De Friesland official it is important to maintain a balance in cooperation with stakeholders in St. Maarten such as residents, employers, government, health care providers etc. "Together these stakeholders have to make good agreements on how to fill-in health care cost. This is not a challenge for SZV only, it is a challenge that everyone together have to come together to resolve."
Also to be taken up in the strategic plan is a plan to address unhealthy SZV funds, says SZV Deputy Director Reginald Willemsberg. "The idea of this strategy session is for a concerted effort to be made for everyone to participate and come up with solutions for the challenges that we face."
Feenstra said plans are also in the pipeline to meet with stakeholders in the industry to get their feedback on the direction that the strategic plan should take.
Willemsberg said the idea to have Feenstra assist SZV with the development of its strategic plan was birthed in March when SZV had a retreat with De Friesland's board chairperson Diana Monissen as the guest speaker. This culminated with the signing of an agreement at the headquarters of the Dutch insurance company in the Netherlands in May.
Willemsberg said SZV sees De Friesland as an example of how an insurance company should be operated differently. "What we are doing is trying to piggy back on their experience, as well as try to emulate certain things," he said. "The intention is not for this process to become a duplication of what they have in the Netherlands because although we might face the same challenges at a certain level, the situation is a little different in St. Maarten."
Both Feenstra and Willemsberg lauded the participation of workers in the two-day session, saying that attendees were very involved in the sessions. "One of my expectations was that all participants be open and critical and participate actively in the whole session and I am very proud to say that everyone has participated actively and gave their 100 per cent so that this can become a collaborative effort that everyone can carry."
The SZV Deputy Director echoed sentiments expressed by Feenstra that the insurance service provider will be following up with stakeholders to ensure that they too are fully involved in the process.
SZV's strategic plan for 2015 to 2018 has to be finalised by November 2014. De Friesland is located in Leeuwarden and has over 565,000 insured persons.
