St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) recently completed the upgrading of the John Cooper Jose Lake Sr. multipurpose sports court living up to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2020 with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports and Social and Health Insurances (SZV) granting SMMC temporary usage rights for a parcel of land located at the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex.
The parcel of land was to be used for parking by SMMC for the duration of the construction of the St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH), however, due to the pandemic has since also been used as a location for the Auxiliary Care Facility (ACF) where COVID care is administered.
As a basketball court was located on the parcel of land, the MoU specified that SMMC would commit to upgrading the sports court at John Cooper Jose Lake Sr. sports into a multipurpose sports court (which lies adjacent to the ballpark), which can be used for a variety of sports such as basketball, netball, volleyball, futsal, and hockey. The upgrading works were delayed due to the pandemic but have since been finalized and the court is in use.
“We are glad to contribute as good corporate citizens by always living up to agreements made and to provide avenues for the St. Maarten community to regularly exercise and thus lead healthy lifestyles, stated Medical Director Dr. Felix Holiday.
“Also, since the start of the construction of SMGH, we have been using the parking lots at the Belair Community & Fitness Center and the Jehovah’s Witness for staff and visitors to make use of. We would like to again extend our gratitude to the management and staff of the Belair Community & Fitness Center and the Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses for allowing us to make use of their premises”, concluded Dr. Holiday.