The judge will consider the administrative crisis at GGzE in Eindhoven in an emergency procedure. The client council of the mental health institution demands from the Enterprise Chamber in Amsterdam that the board can go back to work. The two board members were suspended by the Supervisory Board last week. The hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning.
Tensions within the GGzE continue to rise with this legal action. According to the client council, making the board inactive constitutes a danger to the proper continuation of care. Last year, GGzE still provided psychological help to about 12,000 people.
The Works Council (OR) joins the process as an interested party in the process of going to court. The Client Council and Works Council believe that board members Machteld Ploeg and Peter Littooijen have been unlawfully suspended. They also state that there is no support within the GGzE to dismiss the board and appoint a new interim board member. “The administrative crisis is entirely attributable to the Supervisory Board,” she wrote in a statement.
Healthcare background
The Supervisory Board decided to suspend the board last week after a difference of opinion about how to fill the vacancy of board chairman. After former chairman Joep Verbugt recently retired, the GGzE is looking for a new one.
Through recruitment agencies, the GGzE has tried to find someone who has extensive administrative experience, but also a background in care. Several attempts to find a candidate who meets these requirements have failed, according to the Board of Trustees.
‘Irreparable breach of trust’
That is why the Supervisory Board tries to recruit a chairman with extensive managerial experience. The current two board members, supported by the client council and the works council, among others, want the chairman to have a broad background in care.
This difference of opinion has recently gotten so out of hand that, according to the Supervisory Board, ‘an irreparable breach of trust’ has arisen with the board. According to the Supervisory Board, this endangers healthcare at GGzE and there is every reason to put the board aside.
Firm intervention
The Enterprise Chamber in Amsterdam is now going to look into this issue. It can intervene strongly within organisations. For example, the Enterprise Section can reverse decisions such as suspending a board. The body can also suspend, dismiss or temporarily appoint directors or supervisory directors.
The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate has also been informed about current concerns.
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