It’s time
15-02-2022 -by Gerben Welling – Managing Director (resigning)
Over the past year and a half, I have often completed the Eindhoven – Leiderdorp/Voorhout route. I didn’t count the number of hours on the train, let alone the number of emails and hours behind screens. My assignment as interim director is over. In the meantime I have handed over the management of De LIMES BV to Gos de Vries and he has been introduced to many of you.
Looking back, it was a tough time, but also a beautiful time. Before I started in August 2020, we still had a bit of hope that COVID19 would not come back. How different it turned out. I still remember that the second wave started near my holiday address on Terschelling when young people at Camping de Appelhof became infected. COVID19 has demanded a lot of energy and still requires it. But it has also brought a lot. New forms of collaboration, partners in healthcare found each other smoothly, competition quickly evaporated. For two years, the utmost has been asked of people. It was exciting in my private life, families in quarantine, constantly changing appointments at work. Sometimes you felt like you were living on a rollercoaster that you didn’t know when it would stop. A big compliment to everyone, what commitment and flexibility. Last but not least, many have made efforts to vaccinate vulnerable residents as well as employees. Sometimes we rowed against the tide, but the goal, to vaccinate many people quickly, remained intact.
In the middle of wave two, SHR and DDDB or DDDB and SHR merged to form De LIMES BV. A merger that also brought changes. Suddenly, you are part of a larger entity under the name De LIMES BV. A merger that, in addition to changes, also brought uncertainties. Will I keep the work I was used to doing is a frequently asked question. Step by step, DDDB and SHR are merging and the collaboration is becoming more intensive, a process that is still ongoing for the time being. At the end of 2021, De LIMES BV obtained the NPA certificate as a reward for its hard work. Work that has been done to provide 570,000 residents in South Holland North with care if necessary.
Of course, not everyone is satisfied. I regret that I have sometimes failed to take everyone into account. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their trust over the past year and a half, you are doing well. I wish Gos de Vries every success in the development of the organization with all the plans that go with it.
