Organogram of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport: Directorate-General for Curative Care

Director-General for Curative Care: Barbara Goezinne

Departments and programmes

  • Curative Care Department (CZ)
  • Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technology Department (GMT)
  • Patient and Health Systems Department (PZo)
  • Medical Isotopes Programme Department (PMI)
  • Health Systems Resilience Programme Department (PDWZ)

Curative Care Department (CZ)

Director: Birgitta Westgren

The department is concerned with developing, implementing and evaluating policy concerning the curative care sector, which includes hospitals, mental health services (especially short-term interventions), and primary care providers (GPs and allied health professionals). The department’s goal is to promote general quality of life. It is responsible for the design and functioning of the healthcare system, notably the relationships between care providers and patients and between care providers and health insurers.

Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technology Department (GMT)

Director: Karla van Rooijen

Medicines, medical devices, blood products, human tissues and organs, and radiotherapy, for instance, are all essential to healthcare, and the government has a special responsibility in this regard. Patients should be guaranteed that the care they receive is effective and efficient. This also means guaranteeing the safety and quality of healthcare products.

Patient and Health Systems Department (PZo)

Director: Fred Krapels

What does a person need to stay healthy? Or to get better? And if getting better is no longer an option, what can help someone have the best possible quality of life, with as much independence as possible? These are crucial questions which every patient, in consultation with their attending care professionals, will answer differently. Meeting these individual needs is what tailored care is all about. Tailored care informs the ministry’s mission and the work of PZo. The department considers every type of care that a patient or client may encounter.

Comprehensive Healthcare Agreement Programme Department (PDIZA)

Programme director: Klaas Beniers 

The government and a wide range of sector parties signed the comprehensive healthcare agreement (IZA) in 2022. Its aim is to ensure the provision of affordable, good-quality and, above all, accessible care – now and in the future. The agreement focuses on care that falls under the Health Insurance Act, but also links up with other domains, including social care. This is because problems in the health and care sector can only be addressed effectively through a comprehensive approach at national, regional and local level.

PDIZA is a small, temporary department that coordinates implementation and safeguards policy cohesion within the ministry, and stimulates the process of renewal in the field.

The department has appointed Professor Jan Kremer as special envoy for appropriate care. He is talking with healthcare administrators and professionals about what appropriate care entails in practice.

Medical Isotopes Programme Department (PMI)

Deputy Director-General: Jan van den Heuvel
Programme director: Stan Dekker
Deputy Programme director: Arie Ippel

Tasks

  • Medical isotopes are radioactive materials that are mainly used to diagnose cardiovascular disease, cancer, bone disease and neurological disease. Increasingly, they are also used to treat various types of cancer.
  • Medical isotopes are made in a nuclear reactor or a cyclotron. The nuclear reactor in Petten makes enough semi-finished products to supply 70% of the EU market, but it is a very old facility. 
  • The programme department aims to ensure security of supply of medical isotopes and to strengthen the knowledge infrastructure on nuclear health, ultimately resulting in new therapies for cancer and other diseases. This also means addressing the issue of replacing the existing, largely outdated European production facilities and exploring new production technologies (cyclotrons). A modern production facility for medical isotopes in Europe will be key in ensuring security of supply. 
  • PALLAS has advanced plans to build such a facility in the Netherlands. The programme department liaises closely with all the ministries involved as well as subnational authorities and the relevant regulatory bodies to advance and support the political decision-making process in The Hague.

Health Systems Resilience Programme Department (PDWZ)

Maximum access to healthcare in the Netherlands needs to be secured, not only in the present, but also in any possible future situation. The Netherlands faces current and future threats with potentially sweeping impact on society and health systems, including for public health, curative care and long-term care. The Health Systems Resilience Programme Department (PDWZ) helps organisations and professionals in the fields of health and care optimise their readiness.

The threats facing the Netherlands are wide-ranging, from armed conflict and pandemics to extreme weather events. It is vital in these situations that the health and care sector can respond effectively and flexibly, and scale up emergency care rapidly. The aim should be to ensure access to adequate healthcare for as many people as possible, for as long as possible.
To this end, the programme department focuses on:

  • healthcare capacity and the organisation of casualty response;
  • medical supplies;
  • IT and data;
  • division of competences during a crisis;
  • improving civil-military cooperation in the field of healthcare.