The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) department, under the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor (VSA) of St. Maarten, faces a severe internal crisis. Information supplied to and gathered by The People's Tribune points to longstanding grievances from staff, including health hazards, lack of resources, and insufficient recognition, painting a troubling picture of a department tasked with safeguarding public health but unable to ensure the well-being of its own employees.
Despite multiple meetings with ministers and senior officials, including Minister Omar Ottley and former Minister Veronica Jansen-Webster, CPS staff report a lack of meaningful action to address critical issues. A timeline of meetings, dating back to April 2022, highlights a series of promises and minimal follow-through.
April 22, 2022: Staff met with Minister Omar Ottley.
November 22, 2022: Staff met with the Secretary General of VSA.
October 27, 2023: A follow-up meeting was held with Minister Ottley.
November 30 and December 1, 2023: Another meeting with the Secretary General.
May 31, 2024: The last meeting was held with Minister Jansen-Webster.
April 22, 2022: Staff met with Minister Omar Ottley.
November 22, 2022: Staff met with the Secretary General of VSA.
October 27, 2023: A follow-up meeting was held with Minister Ottley.
November 30 and December 1, 2023: Another meeting with the Secretary General.
May 31, 2024: The last meeting was held with Minister Jansen-Webster.
Key Issues and Challenges
Environmental and Safety Concerns: Mold infestation, condensation, and poor air quality plague the CPS building, endangering staff health. Promises to replace ventilation ducts and filters remain partially unmet (some were changed), with maintenance inconsistent.
Security Failures: Instances of mentally challenged individuals entering the building raised security concerns. While swipe systems were installed, other promised measures, like intercoms, are still pending.
Inadequate Staff Recognition: Despite serving as frontliners during disasters like Hurricane Irma and the COVID-19 pandemic, CPS staff feel unrecognized and uncompensated compared to other government frontliners.
Critical Program Deficiencies: The Baby Clinic and School Program both operate below capacity due to staff shortages and inadequate immunization software. For example, the Baby Clinic has seen a significant workload increase, with only three nurses available compared to five last year. The Youth Dental Services program has also been in disarray since 2015, with the dental mobile out of service since 2020.
Equipment and Resource Shortages: The Mobile Health Bus, vital for community health promotion, has deteriorated to an unusable state despite repeated requests for repairs since 2017. The Vector Control Unit, crucial for combating mosquito-borne diseases, operates with just one assistant. Island fumigations have ceased since 2018, heightening the risk of dengue outbreaks.
Staff Well-Being: A culture of overwork and neglect has taken a toll on CPS staff: Around 75% of employees have sought medical or psychological support for work-related stress. A high sick leave turnover prompted SZV to assess the workplace environment, but the resulting report was never shared with staff. Burnout is widespread, with some sections receiving reprieves like extra days off, while others are left to cope without support.
Management Shortcomings: Communication with CPS management is minimal, leaving staff unclear about the department's future. Reports from strategic planning workshops in 2022 and 2023 emphasized operational disparities, but these findings were not acted upon. Staff have experienced, unrealistic and authoritative demands, while obvious challenges they faced have been disregarded, such as poorly operating computers, the frequent outages and loss of documentation. In the space of a years, two staff members have resigned, where one was forced to resign due to a medical issue while on medical leave.
Efforts to Address the Crisis
Former Minister Veronica Jansen-Webster acknowledged the depth of the challenges during her tenure and outlined efforts made to address some of the grievances. Reflecting on her engagement with CPS staff, she stated:
"I visited CPS at the beginning of my tenure and I did indeed meet with the staff of CPS and the union on May 31 with members of my cabinet and the secretary general. Following the meeting, members of my cabinet immediately visited CPS to get a better understanding of the grievances and to try to assist. Some issues were tackled immediately, and I remember some HR issues being addressed such as the payment of bonuses. What struck me during the meeting was the immense unhappiness of the staff and the seemingly complete breakdown of communication with management."
She further explained that while efforts were made to improve working conditions and fill vacancies to alleviate the heavy workload, severe budget cuts significantly hindered progress:
"What we were faced with though right around that same time, were budget cuts of more than 4 million guilders in the ministry of VSA alone. This hampered the hiring of additional staff and purchase of necessary equipment such as software. There is also a known difficulty in acquiring nursing staff. Despite the hardships, the dedicated staff at CPS continued to put their best foot forward organizing many great awareness campaign events for the community such as the senior health fair, breastfeeding awareness, breast and prostate cancer awareness and the upcoming AIDS awareness campaign to name a few. We are faced with another skeletal budget in 2025, however there should be room created now to somewhat improve staffing."
While some strides were made, the unresolved grievances and resource constraints continue to affect CPS's ability to deliver critical public health services effectively. Without urgent intervention, the department's capacity to safeguard the health of St. Maarten's population will remain severely compromised.
Former Minister Ottley and new Minister of VSA Richinel Brug were contacted for comment (if any) but none were provided by the time of this publication.
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