The Children’s Medical Center stresses an integrated approach to care that addresses children’s psychological, social and developmental needs in addition to medical treatment.
Team members include pediatricians, pediatric specialists, pediatric surgeons, neonatal and pediatric advanced registered nurse practitioners, childhood education guide, speech pathologists, pharmacists and pediatric respiratory, and physical therapists. Our in-house therapists assist by guiding the child in with painting and educational games to stimulate the development and healing process of the child.
The environment within the Children’s Medical Center is designed with children and their families in mind and we do our utmost to best accommodate the parents.
Depending on the needs, we have private and semi-private rooms.
Certified child life specialists provide activities to meet the psychological and social needs of hospitalized children. Supervised medical play helps prepare children for tests, procedures, and surgery and also reduces their stress. Child life specialists may go into surgery with children to ease their fears. Upon request, tours of the Children’s Medical Center are provided in preparation for a hospital stay.
From creating comfortable surroundings to providing school work support, Curaçao Medical Center has many valuable resources for parents, patients and families.
NICU Department
Parents’ presence on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and High Care (HC) departments
The NICU and HC departments fully embrace the Family-Centered Care philosophy. As such parents are considered part of the healing and recovery process of the child. The department has recently made the decision to extend the hours that parents can be present to include daily access from 9am – 2pm and from 3pm-7pm.
Visiting guidelines
- Daily visiting hours: 9am – 2pm and 3pm -7pm
- In case of seriously ill babies, it is possible to deviate from the visiting hours in consultation with the head of the department.
- Grandparents can visit once a week with one of the parents. Exceptions are possible for underage parents, sick or single mothers, or babies with long-term admissions or with poor prognosis.
- Children are only allowed after consultation with the department to ensure strict infection prevention guidelines are followed.
- Limit parents trafficking in and out of the department during the day as much as possible.
- A maximum of two (2) visitors at a time.
Infection prevention guidelines
- No long nails, artificial nails, nail polish, or any jewelry
- No long sleeves (Must be short or rolled up to the elbow). Parents who want to skin-to-skin contact, need to wear a shirt or blouse that opens in the front.
- Parents with Flu (COVID) symptoms are not allowed.
- Must disinfect phone/camera if you need this for pictures
- No use of mobile phone except for pictures
- Must wash and disinfect hands upon arrival in the insolation space prior to entering according to procedures.
- Follow all hand hygiene instructions prior to interaction with the child. There is no need to put on an apron or gloves.
- If you are visiting a sick person the hospital other than the maternity ward, you must first visit the NICU/HC ward.
Preparing Your Child for Surgery
Having a surgical procedure and staying in the hospital can be a scary experience for any child. We hope you’ll find the information provided useful in preparing your child for surgery.
Treatments & Conditions
- Cardiology (non-invasive)
- Critical Care
- Emergency Medicine
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- Hematology
- Infectious Diseases
- Neonatology
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopedics
- Pathology
- Plastic Surgery
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Rehab
- Surgery
Pediatric Programms & Services
- Cardiology (non-invasive)
- Critical Care
- Emergency Medicine
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- Hematology
- Infectious Diseases
- Neonatology
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopedics
- Pathology
- Plastic Surgery
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Rehab
- Surgery
Preparing Your Child for Surgery
Having a surgical procedure and staying in the hospital can be a scary experience for any child. We hope you’ll find the information provided useful in preparing your child for surgery.
Ronald McDonald House
The Ronald McDonald House provides a home-away-from-home for families of children being treated at CMC.
Having a severely ill child is nothing short of a heart wrenching experience. The families of these children are regularly faced with stressful situations. This is not a burden that should be carried alone. Ronald McDonald House Charities Curaçao aims to support families of seriously-ill, injured or hospitalized children, where possible.
Our little ones are dependent and vulnerable.
At CMC we collaborate with CliniClowns because we believe that children should remain children and be allowed to play despite their circumstances in the hospital. The playfulness of CliniClowns and their interaction with our little patients have a positive effect on development and recovery. Through games children also get an opportunity to process their emotional state. CliniClowns provide distraction and fun.
Specialists Pediatrics
Naijla Duque Monroy - Service Line Chief - Pediatrics & Neonatology
Dr. Duque Monroy is the Service Line Chief of the Pediatrics and Neonatal Intensive Care and is actively involved with pediatrician colleagues during outpatient consultations. Did her final residence work and fellowship training in support and experience for management of duel and difficult moments in NICU.
Dr. Monroy has a certificate as Teacher and trainer for Respiratory therapist with focus in New born ventilatory management from Fundacion Universitaria Andina in Colombia. She was a supervisor and trainer in Bogota for medical students and Pediatric residents and has been an Active Epic Latino Member since 2014.
Active Epic Latino is a worldwide NICU group that works for quality improvement in neonatal intensive care for latinoamerica. Curaçao continuously works on improving quality and to optimize the processes and therapies. Their mission at the NICU at CMC is to continuously work on improving quality for better service and therapy management of our pediatric population in Curaçao and the region.
Shirley Lo-A-Njoe - Pediatrician
Dr. Lo-A-Njoe has been working specifically as a pediatric cardiologist since 2006. She has worked at the St. Elisabeth hospital since 1985, first as a medical student, followed by residency in pediatrics(95- 97), as Chef de Clinique/ pediatrician (2000-2003), pediatric cardiologist and pediatrician(2006) and from 2016 only as a pediatric cardiologist.
From the opening of the CMC (Nov 2019) working as a pediatric cardiologist. The focus of her work is congenital heart disease from ‘fetal until adult’. Together with pediatricians, gynecologists and adult cardiologists on our islands of the Former Netherland Antilles , this work is done.
Aside from the normal clinical work, there is special interest in acute care for which she is a Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) instructor for the American Heart Association. Organizer of international conferences in Congenital heart disease in collaboration with colleagues and Family Centered Care conferences for RMHC on Curacao.
She is participating in (PhD)-research on Congenital Heart Disease for the Caribbean in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, and Rendu Osler Weber outpatient clinic and research.
Farah Bogel-Falix - Pediatrician-Nephrologist
Farah A. Falix, MD, PhD, is a pediatrician with a subspecialization in pediatric kidney diseases. She serves both as a general pediatrician and as a pediatric nephrologist. As a pediatric nephrologist she diagnosis, treats and monitors children with congenital and acquired kidney and urological diseases, including the treatment of pediatric hypertension.
Dr. Falix obtained both a doctoral degree for medical biology (1998) and her medical degree (2002) at the VUmc, Amsterdam. She combined her pediatric specialization at the AMC, Amsterdam with a PhD research project and completed both in 2014 and 2012, respectively.
In 2013, she did an eight-month residency on the pediatric department in St Elisabeth Hospital (SEHOS), Curacao, where she fell in love with the island and its people. In May 2017 she successfully completed the 3 years of pediatric nephrology subspecialization.
Hereafter, she immediately applied and was accepted for the position of pediatrician/pediatric nephrologist in SEHOS. Dr. Falix also serves as education coordinator of the pediatric department and holds memberships for the European Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ESPN), the International Pediatric Nephrology Association, The Dutch Federation of Nephrology (NFN) and the Dutch Federation of Pediatrics (NVK).
Meindert Manshande - Pediatrician
Dr. M.E. Manshande, MD, is a general pediatrician with a broad interest in all aspects of pediatrics and neonatology, with a special focus on pediatric hematology and pediatric oncology. He received his degrees at the universities of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Brussels (Belgium). During his studies, he completed his internships in Cape Town (South Africa) and in Curaçao. In 2012, he initiated his career as a pediatric chief resident in the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Curaçao, where he acted as the Head of the Pediatric Department between 2013 and 2019. Currently, his focus is on clinical work, research, initiating multidisciplinary outpatients clinics and coordinator for contacts with other countries. Dr. Manshande works on protocols for neonatal screening and sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies and is co-writer in various publications, on subjects ranging from the Chikungunya and Zika epidemics, to clinical genetics on
Ginette Ecury - Pediatrician-Neonatologist
Dr Ginette Ecury-Goossen is a pediatrician-neonatologist who grew up in Curaçao. She was trained in Pediatrics in Erasmus MC-Sophia in Rotterdam and specialized in Neonatology in the same hospital. In 2016 she realized her long-time dream of returning back home and working in Curaçao.
As a neonatologist she is especially dedicated to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), where the smallest and most vulnerable babies are cared for. As a pediatrician she also sees older children and adolescents. Together with her colleagues she is committed to continuously improving the quality and safety of care for all of the children of Curaçao.
Patricia Philippi - Van Arkel - Pediatrician
Patricia Philippi has been working in the pediatric department in Curaçao for over 20 years; the first two years in training to become a pediatrician and from 2003 onwards as a pediatrician. Her years of experience as a general pediatrician in the island’s only pediatric department, a tertiary center for the region, and with its own level 3b neonatology intensive care unit, make Patricia Philippi a well-rounded pediatrician with experience in many subspecialties.
She is part of the team of pediatricians who distribute care for all inpatients and outpatients and have daily joint discussions about the admitted patients. As a training center for multiple clinics in the Netherlands and Belgium, the entire team ensures a training environment for the doctors and specialized training for the nurses.
From the opening of CMC in 2019 to 2022, pediatrician Philippi served as the Service Line Chief of Pediatrics.