A specialized care villa for sick and multiply disabled children in Waalre is closing. Villa ExpertCare Waalre is one of four locations in the Netherlands that will close. About eighty children have to look for another place of care. According to the organization, this form of care is no longer sustainable.
According to ExpertCare, this is partly because health insurers do not sufficiently cover healthcare costs, problems with staffing and a shift from care to home.
Four locations closed
The care villa in Waalre is not the only location that will close its doors. The locations in Rijswijk, Wezep and Vleuten will also close. Approximately eighty children receive care spread over the four villas. Due to the closure, they are forced to look for another healthcare organization.
ExpertCare will continue to provide children’s home care, but will no longer receive children and their families at their own locations.
“Saying goodbye to the Villa ExpertCare locations is a tough decision. This also brings a lot of emotions for our employees,” says director Myriam van Haften. Due to the closure, a large number of pediatric nurses will also lose their jobs.
What’s going to happen now?
Some families can be helped with caring for their child with child care at home. Another place of care is being sought for the other children, in collaboration with BINKZ and other industry organizations.
ExpertCare indicates that it will map out the care needs for each child. “We do this in close consultation with the parent(s). Parents are personally kept informed and supervised by the villa’s care team.” They emphasize that the villas will only close when another suitable place has been found for all children.
“The focus is on carefully transferring the children to another, suitable care organization, so that they continue to receive the right care in the future.”
The intention is to close the doors of the villas as of March 31.
Major consequences
Parents feel overwhelmed by the news. So left a mother to RTV Utrecht know that the decision is dramatic. “As a result, our son no longer has a suitable place in the Utrecht region. If these kinds of places disappear, we really don’t know where our children should go,” said Romy Aikema-Seep, mother of 11-year-old Qwin.
On February 5, there will be an information meeting for parents about the closure of the villas
