The departure of Johan De Muynck comes as a surprise. Since 2009 he has been CEO of the Antwerp Healthcare Company. Over the past fifteen years, he has expanded the Healthcare Company into a company with 3,650 employees who provide care to more than 25,000 customers.
He survived three legislatures under the chairmanship of Monica De Coninck (sp.a, now Vooruit), Liesbeth Homans (N-VA) and Fons Duchateau (N-VA).
Difference in vision
But things have apparently not been going well for some time now with the current chairman of the Healthcare Company, Alderman Els van Doesburg (N-VA). Due to the failure of the reform of the Healthcare Company to a new non-profit structure, which would allow private partners, the Healthcare Company is under financial pressure. According to our information, there was a clear difference in vision between De Muynck and van Doesburg about how this should be communicated. “Van Doesburg would like to present the situation as rosier than it is and De Muynck could not agree with that,” says a source close to the Healthcare Company. That would have made the collaboration untenable.”
Yet it is not a dismissal. “The Zorgbedrijf and Johan De Muynck have mutually decided to end the collaboration,” can be read in a joint communication. To be clear, the decision was not made by Van Doesburg alone.
De Muynck’s departure is laid down in a settlement, an agreement concluded between both parties. Both therefore refrain from commenting. Thursday, February 16 is his last day as CEO.
Swearing
There are also rumors going around about the functioning of De Muynck: threatening emails, insults and a soured relationship with the city administration,… Things are also said to be in trouble with the unions, although this has not been confirmed by the unions themselves. “De Muynck knew the sector well, but I think things sometimes went wrong in the punctual implementation,” says ACV secretary Kathleen De Winter. “But we will never know the true reason for his departure, because of that settlement.”
Ken Zegers, ACOD secretary, also does not know the precise circumstances. “We didn’t see this coming,” he says. “We have always had a good relationship with De Muynck, even though we had different opinions.”
“Failed policy”
Opposition party Groen quickly demands more clarity about De Muynck’s departure. “We feel that Van Doesburg wanted to cover up the red figures and keep her failing policy hidden,” says Groen municipal councilor Karen Maes, also a member of the board of directors of the Zorgbedrijf. “To us, this seems like a political settlement.
Antwerp’s party leader for Groen Bogdan Vanden Berghe joins Maes. “If there is no more clarity about this dismissal soon, this will be irresponsible policy on the part of Van Doesburg. The city urgently needs a solution to structurally eliminate the health care company’s financial problems. The current privatization plans are clearly not the solution. And dismissing an experienced director with a settlement and without much explanation does not help either.”
2024-02-09 14:56:53
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