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Health care provider HSPO from Eersel has filed for bankruptcy, which is why part of the health care system has come to a standstill. A number of clients are at a loss. “My mother just received a phone call. Tomorrow no one will come to wash her and put on her compression stockings”, Gerhard Overweg told Omroep Brabant.
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Malini Witlox
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HSPO was founded at the end of 2015 by Louis Machielsen, together with his partner and co-director, Anja van der Kooy. The company from Eersel provides 24-hour care, palliative care and nursing, among other things. In their own words, they wanted to ‘do things differently’, whereby the nurses, for example, spent more time on ‘care and human contact.’ The company has 65 employees and 100 clients.
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Machielsen does not want to say too much about the cause of the bankruptcy, but it is clear that he is very disappointed. “We would have preferred to have helped all clients. It is not that we no longer want to provide care, but we simply cannot provide it anymore.”
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According to Machielsen, HSPO employed a number of freelancers who no longer perform work for the company due to the bankruptcy. The clients who received care from these employees are now without help.
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“We have told permanent employees that their wages are guaranteed and that we expect them to continue to provide care,” says Machielsen. “We really try to keep the ship afloat.”
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Help with dressing
Despite the efforts, a small group of clients are temporarily unable to receive care. One of them is Juliette Berben-Sterken (91). She lives on her own in Valkenswaard in a rental house, can still provide her own food, but in the morning she needs help with washing or showering and getting dressed and a nurse comes to help with her compression stockings.
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However, she has no help from Tuesday. “She received a phone call today. HSPO Zorgpunt is bankrupt. Immediately all care disappears”, says her son Gerhard Overweg (66). “In the evening we always help her, then we take off the compression stockings. But I can’t take all the care, I have had a few heart attacks and I have a defibrillator. We really have a hard time.”
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In the video, Mrs. Berben (91) talks about the situation in which she ended up. This is the day she celebrates her birthday.
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Waiting lists
Overweg phoned various other care providers, such as Buurtzorg and Zuidzorg. “But they all have a waiting list of three to four months. I also called health insurer CZ, who say that the care should not just be stopped. But who should do it?”
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Overweg would rather have heard that there were problems a few weeks earlier. “Then you can anticipate that. Now it comes out of nowhere.”
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Duty of care
Health insurer CZ has informed that customers such as Overweg’s mother who have been duped must report to their insurer. “We have a duty of care and will then see whether we can purchase extra care elsewhere.” Although it was already known that HSPO was in trouble, the bankruptcy comes as a surprise, according to a spokesman for the insurer.
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“We would prefer to know sooner, so that we can take action earlier. We have also tried to keep HSPO afloat with other health insurers.”
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