Willemstad, July 5th, 2021 – Mr. Gilbert Martina who held the position of Interim CEO of CMC since December 2019 was selected as the strongest candidate to manage the hospital. Gilbert Martina has been appointed for a 4-year contract effective July 1, 2021. His role will include managing the daily operations as well as balancing the financial deficit; develop medical tourism as a steady income stream for CMC and achieving the JCI accreditation. The selection process started in August last year and was led by a committee appointed by the Supervisory Board of CMC Exploitation. The Chairman of the committee was Prof Dr. Ernst Kuipers, who is a member of the Supervisory Directors of CMC, CEO of Erasmus Medical Center and President of the National Committee Acute Care Netherlands. According to Kuipers “The Supervisory Board is very pleased to appoint Gilbert Martina, an experienced director to CMC. As the interim CEO Gilbert Martina expertly led CMC during the hospital’s start-up phase and during the recent Covid pandemic. We wish Gilbert Martina, together with all CMC colleagues, every success in the coming period.”
Russel & Reynolds Associates, a global leadership advisory and executive search firm, conducted the executive search for candidates. The candidates were narrowed down to 4, of which a stringent process was followed through to ensure the candidate with most experience and know-how of operating a hospital in Curaçao was selected. The process included a predefined profile for the CEO function, a long list, a short list and interview with the member of the selection committee.
Mr. Martina’s has an MBA degree from Webster University in Leiden, a Chemical Engineering master degree, a chemical laboratory engineering bachelor degree from the University of Amsterdam and a HRM change management post graduate degree from the University of Groningen. These were the foundations for the breath of experience he acquired in the following 20 years.
Prior to Mr. Martina’s position as Interim CEO at CMC, he was in charge of the transition from the old Hospital (SEHOS) to new (CMC) for two years, from October 2017 to 2019. His accomplishments included: restart of the transition program that was on hold due to conflicts between stakeholders, development of model of care and healthcare vision for total healthcare system of Curaçao with participation of all the relevant stakeholders, development of organizational structure and functions, allocations of all employees from SEHOS organizational structure to CMC organizational structure, development of financial operational models for CMC Exploitation and CMC Real Estate and development and obtaining approval for the new tariff structure of CMC.
His career and experience include several positions in the chemical industry, Management teams of insurance companies and other financial institutions where his focus was change management programs and leading the teams in charge of both daily operations and change programs.
In his role at CMC as Interim CEO between December 2019 and now, Mr. Martina initiated the JCI accreditation process for CMC, which once achieved will place the hospital as one of the few JCI accredited hospital in the Caribbean. This will be a significant accomplishment for the hospital and all the clients but also for Curaçao as a nation.
Mr. Martina expresses that is it an honor the have been selected for this challenging position. As a young kid I used the visit the dermatology outpatient department of SEHOS a lot since my mother worked there as a doctor assistant. My first choice after finishing high school was to study medicine in the Netherlands, since there was no place in my first year I went to study my second choice study, which is chemistry. Although I have a Beta background, I have learned in time that people management combined with strong vision and objectives are key to organizational success. It will be a great challenge to balance the financial deficits and implement our slogan “Sirbi cu Amor” in the DNA of all employees, but at the end I strongly believe that is what every client of CMC deserves, being served from the heart, with passion and with love.
CMC is delighted about the journey ahead with Mr. Martina to continue increasing the quality of care and placing Curaçao on the map as a center for healthcare excellence.
