MHA Annual General Meeting

The Middlesex Hospital Alliance's Annual General Meeting was held on June 9, 2009 in Strathroy and featured guest speaker Paul Thewissen, Counselor for Health, Welfare & Sports, Royal Netherlands Embassy, Washington, DC speaking on Health Care Success - the Dutch Way !

Paul Thewissen holds a Master of Arts in Public Health Sciences and a Master of Law. He studied at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and specialized in management of health care, heath care policies, patient rights and ethical issues. Since September 2006 he has been the counselor for Health, Welfare and Sport at the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Washington, DC. In this position he represents the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in the United States and Canada. In addition he represents the Ministry of Youth and Families.

Prior to his assignment in Washington, Paul Thewissen worked for six years at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport on the reform of the Dutch health care system. This project resulted in a new insurance system as of January 1, 2006 for curative healthcare in the Netherlands under which all residents of the Netherlands are obliged to take out private health insurance. "In the Netherlands, all citizens are covered regardless of socioeconomic status. Insurance companies are obliged to provide universal coverage for everyone", Mr. Thewissen said.