Co-Med, the GP chain with several branches in our province, has taken over two practices, this time in Bergen op Zoom. Several parties in the House of Representatives called for the takeovers to be stopped, but GP practice Het Kompas has been owned by the company since October. GP practice Pabst will be added to this, Co-Med informs Omroep Brabant.
Co-Med is controversial. Complaints about unreachable or absent general practitioners poured in in several places, such as in Breda. In Reusel, a practice closed overnight, leaving patients in a state of confusion. In Waalwijk, a practice recently closed for more than a week because no GP was available.
Concerns in politics
The countless incidents mean that the call for measures is getting louder. Both the PvdA and the SP in the House of Representatives previously asked the minister to stop the takeover in Bergen op Zoom. ‘Hasn’t practice shown that general practitioner care is not in safe hands with these types of commercial parties?’ Jimmy Dijk of the SP wondered.
The SP in the Bergen op Zoom city council also sounded the alarm. ‘A worrying development’, is how the party called the takeovers of general practices by Co-Med. Will action be taken against this kind of practice, was the question to the city council, which indicated that it would investigate whether action is possible. There are also two investigations into Co-med, at both the Dutch Healthcare Authority and the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate.
Other GPs
There are also concerns among other general practitioners. The Huisartsen Coöperatie West-Brabant previously called the situation around Co-Med ‘worrying’, but could not get in touch with the chain to find out how advanced the takeover plans were.
In Oosterhout, GPs prevented Co-Med from establishing itself in the spring of 2022 by quickly arranging another takeover candidate for a practice. In Eindhoven, GPs ended their collaboration with Co-Med because it was not going well.
Last acquisition for now
Co-Med describes the criticism as ‘often suggestive questions that we cannot place’, and emphasizes that a lot is going well, ‘but unfortunately not everything’. The company says it is putting further acquisitions on hold to get the internal organization in order.
The patients of the two practices in Bergen op Zoom have now been informed. This brings the number of Co-Med practices in Brabant to seven.
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2023-08-18 07:25:18
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