{"id":55044,"date":"2026-08-24T12:07:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turner.nl\/uncategorized\/column-by-peter-de-bruin-vaccination-hesitancy-exposes-the-dna-of-the-healthcare-system\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T12:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:07:08","slug":"column-by-peter-de-bruin-vaccination-hesitancy-exposes-the-dna-of-the-healthcare-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turner.nl\/en\/blog-en\/column-by-peter-de-bruin-vaccination-hesitancy-exposes-the-dna-of-the-healthcare-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Column by Peter de Bruin | Vaccination Hesitancy Exposes the DNA of the Healthcare System"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Column by Peter de Bruin<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Vaccination Rate Exposes Healthcare's Concerns\u200b<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sometimes it takes a crisis to gain insight into your own DNA, writes Peter de Bruin. In the healthcare sector, the slow pace of vaccination makes it clear that there is nothing wrong with healthcare in the Netherlands itself, but all the more so with the way it is organized. More scale and collaboration are needed. Focus on the supply chain; combat fragmentation. The many healthcare administrators, virologists, and other medical professionals who have publicly expressed their surprise have a point. Thanks to the coronavirus, the healthcare system now has a better understanding, Peter argues. <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Vaccination Rate Exposes Healthcare's Concerns<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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There\u2019s nothing wrong with healthcare in the Netherlands: qualified specialists, state-of-the-art technology, solid procedures, and so on. But the organization of that healthcare leaves much to be desired: waiting lists, turnaround times, bedside care, coordination issues, and a lack of modern communication. Everyone is familiar with the examples of being passed from pillar to post. As consumers, we\u2019re used to better service: a single point of contact and integrated handling throughout the process, with a high degree of digital self-service. As patients, we put up with a lot for the sake of our most precious asset.<\/p>

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Now, with the coronavirus, demand for healthcare exceeds supply, and this shortage is exposing a number of weaknesses in the way we organize healthcare. Capacity management alone isn\u2019t enough. Things went well during the first wave. A singular focus on ICU capacity forced nationwide cooperation. After the summer, the problems began to pile up, both in terms of policy and implementation. Think of postponed routine healthcare, slow procurement and rollout of tests and vaccines, and a vaccination policy based on age rather than quality of life and risk of infection. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Everyone from their own little corner<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The root cause of this slow vaccination rollout? Everyone in the broader healthcare sector wants to do it on their own. RIVM, GGD, VWS, Care and Cure,primary<\/sup> andsecondary<\/sup> care\u2014they\u2019re largely autonomous islands. Local implementation chooses over national coordination, and it chooses not to collaborate with competent third parties such as the Ministry of Defense. In many places, we\u2019re reinventing the wheel. And there is fragmented logistics between procurement, inventory management, and the vaccination teams or sites. Sluggishness is the logical consequence. And that is now costing many people their lives and their quality of life. <\/p>

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This slow pace of vaccination lays bare a key aspect of the healthcare system. The healthcare landscape is highly fragmented, lacking scale and collaboration. Here\u2019s why: healthcare is organized primarily by specialty, not as a continuum. Virtually every institution, department, division, and so on, takes responsibility\u2014but only within its own field. And that responsibility is limited to its own little box, its own silo. This is a systemic characteristic perpetuated by the professional autonomy of medical specialists and the funding system, which is based on those same silos. There is also a lack of a national (IT) technical infrastructure. This doesn\u2019t help; guidance is provided solely through clinical guidelines and the budgets of health insurers. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Healthcare Supply Chain<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of scale and collaboration is taking its toll on us. Healthcare is good, but COVID-19 has made it clear that the organization of healthcare could be improved. Many medical specialists and healthcare administrators are currently voicing public criticism on a daily basis regarding the pace of the Dutch vaccination campaign. I am inclined to agree with them. Let healthcare professionals take responsibility within the care chain, and invest 1% annually of the more than 90 billion in healthcare costs in scaling up and collaboration over the next cabinet term. More appropriate care in the right place. Through regional coordination and digital platforms, medical professionals can take responsibility and, with the help of other professionals, improve the organization of healthcare. Focus on the supply chain. <\/p>

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Sometimes it takes a crisis to gain insight into a certain aspect of our DNA. COVID-19 has exposed the fragmentation of the Healthcare system. Thanks to COVID-19, the Healthcare system is better off!! <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Meet the Author<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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