Information is circulating that the financial situation of Dr. Horacio E. Oduber Hospital (HOH) is in a precarious and delicate state. What causes great concern is the fact that Aruba appears to lack an active Minister of Public Health. No one hears from her, she presents no vision or policy, and there is no improvement in the quality of medical care.
On the contrary, the situation in the healthcare sector has continued to deteriorate: there is an acute shortage of general practitioners, waiting lists for various specialties have become longer, waiting times have increased, and medical care in general seems to be drifting without a course or concrete direction. This is the direct result of appointing a person who is unfit and unqualified to lead a portfolio of this magnitude.
Hospital without medicine and a minister who hides The outlook has become even more alarming now that the hospital’s financial situation has reached a point where certain suppliers have started refusing to deliver medicines to the institution, either because they DO NOT receive payment or because payments take too long.
Why is there a hermetic silence while the situation worsens day by day? What does the Minister have to hide that she does not come to Parliament to give a detailed explanation?
A Minister of Public Health has a constitutional duty and moral responsibility to inform the people and Parliament about situations directly affecting the quality of care and health services. It is unacceptable for an official to make themselves invisible to the country and pretend to govern in darkness and silence. Aruba has never before witnessed ministerial abandonment of this magnitude, characterized by a total lack of vision, management, and direction. The health and life of our people are sacred and are not matters to be played with.
Accountability and the hospital project We are exposing this situation to demand that Minister Wyatt Ras take responsibility and come forward to explain the real situation of the hospital. Furthermore, the lingering question remains: why has the renovation and construction project of the hospital not been officially handed over yet, given that Parliament received an invitation for the handover of this project as early as September 2025?
This people deserves transparency, action, and leadership that faces the music, not silence that puts human lives in danger!