Doctor in Bonaire, Theodorus Aloysius Marie “Dick” van der Vaart MD, FUHM
On May 6, 2024 Bonaire lost a beloved and respected family doctor, specialist in diving and hyperbaric medicine: “Dick” van der Vaart MD, FUHM. He was a dedicated physician, a warm person, an altruist and had great love for the island of Bonaire.
Doctor van der Vaart was born on January 23, 1950. After obtaining his DOCTOR title at the University of Amsterdam in March 1982, he settled in the Netherlands Antilles in October 1982. He first worked in Curaçao and Aruba and in September 1983 he started as a general practitioner in Bonaire in the Tera Korá district. In 1996, doctor van der Vaart built his own medical clinic in Playa, the Centro Medico Central (CMC), right across from the hospital. Besides general practice, he also did obstetrics and traumatology within CMC and in the hospital. In 2011, he founded the “Huisartsenpost”, located in the CMC building, for continuous general practitioner care outside office hours. He was a general practitioner and director at the CMC for 36 years.
Doctor van der Vaart started studying diving and hyperbaric medicine in 1986. He was the founder of the Recompression Chamber and the Foundation Recompression Chamber Bonaire (SRB). The first chamber was a small space on the hospital grounds, with an old navy tank from Den Helder, Holland. The tank arrived in June 1986 with the Frigate Van Galen and was a donation from the Royal Navy. The navy tank was in service until 2010. With the construction of a larger recompression chamber and the purchase of a new modern tank by the foundation, doctor van der Vaart, together with his tankteam, realized an innovative and sophisticated hyperbaric center located behind the CMC building in 2009.
A center for quality medical service for divers and patients eligible for hyperbaric medicine and wound care. Doctor “Dick” van der Vaart was a diving and hyperbaric specialist, hospital consultant in diving and hyperbaric medicine, lecturer and medical director at the Foundation Recompression Chamber Bonaire from 1986 to 2022. As of January 1, 2023, he officially retired.
In 1990, doctor van der Vaart was one of the initiators to dedicate a reef to Jefferson C. Davis MD as a tribute to his mentor, the well known Jefferson C. Davis MD Memorial Reef located on the coast at Kaminda Turístiko. Afterwards, a dive site on the spot was named after doctor Davis, known as the Jeff Davis dive site. Doctor Davis (1932 – 1989) was a pioneer in the field of diving and hyperbaric medicine. In 1986, doctor van der Vaart received an intensive two-week training from him in Houston, Texas. This laid the foundation for further specialization.
In 2010, van der Vaart was involved in the dedication of the same reef to Mrs. Helen Turcotte Davis, also his teacher. She was the wife of doctor Davis and a pioneer in the field of diving medicine education.
Doctor van der Vaart served on the following organizations:
- Bonairean Association of General Practitioners (Chairman)
- Foundation for Continuous General Practitioner Care Bonaire (Chairman)
- BES Healthcare Group (Board Member)
- Foundation Recompression Chamber Bonaire (Board Member)
For all his efforts to provide the best care to patients and divers on his beloved island, doctor “Dick” van der Vaart was officially honored several times:
- Valued Participant (Jefferson C. Davis MD, 1987)
- Recognized Physician (the Mayor of the island of Bonaire, 2008)
- Fellow of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine (the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, 2013)
- Honorary Membership (the Bonaire Hotel and Tourism Association, 2014)
- Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau (His Majesty King Willem Alexander, 2022)
In addition to his great passion for the profession, doctor van der Vaart also had hobbies, including music. He was a drummer and together with others he founded several rock bands on Bonaire. His last band was “The Stingrays”.
Doctor van der Vaart will be remembered as a passionate and dedicated physician, a wise, warm, and humorous person. Many will miss him. They will never forget who he was and what he did for many people and for Bonaire.