After 17 years, Jan van Loenen says goodbye to Zorgbelang Drenthe. During the period that Van Loenen was director-administrator, the interest group changed from a voluntary organization into a professional party. Van Loenen had a number of tough files on his plate.
In the year that Zorgbelang Drenthe celebrates its 35th anniversary, the man who was at the helm half of the time will say goodbye next Friday. With a symposium of which he himself is chairman.
So he remains in control until the last moment, although he says he gets a bit shy when it comes to him. “Being in the spotlight is not my strong point,” says the 63-year-old in the Radio Drenthe program Cassata. “As an advocate, I would like to stand up for residents and especially vulnerable residents.”
And for someone who likes to do that, Zorgbelang Drenthe is a suitable place. The organization stands up for everyone in the province who uses care. Van Loenen: “Regardless of which condition. Everything passes through Zorgbelang. From people who use the Social Support Act (including home care, ed.) to hospital care, from mental health care to general practitioners.”
Zorgbelang Drenthe saw the light of day in 1988, under the name Patient Platform Drenthe. “In 2006, when I took office, it was still mainly a volunteer organization, with people who were all very enthusiastic and passionately involved in partial interests,” says Van Loenen. For example, there was a club that focused on the physically handicapped, and another section that focused on mental health care patients. In his first years he was mainly concerned with creating unity.
Once that was successful, a bomb was dropped by the province of Drenthe. The money tap was turned off, 75 percent of the subsidies fell away. “I was in the curtains, proverbial,” the director recalls. But Zorgbelang continued to exist, despite the fact that it was a difficult time. “That went through trial and error, it can’t be any other way if you keep 25 percent.”
The organization has recovered, has experienced considerable growth in recent years and is back at the level it was before the disastrous year 2012. Twelve people are employed. Van Loenen: “Fortunately, the province has adjusted its policy again in the last four years and we have a little more resources again.”