# Two residential care homes for seriously ill children close at year-end

> ExpertCare's interim director told a Tweede Kamer hearing the money has run out and owner B. Braun said it cannot keep financing the care, so the last two villas shut though not every child has a new place.

Society · published 2026-10-30 09:08 · https://nlnow.nl/a/care-villas-for-seriously-ill-children-close-at-year-end/

Villa ExpertCare will close its last two care villas for seriously ill children, in Wezep and Rijswijk, at the end of the year, even though not all the children have found another place. Care at the Rijswijk villa stops for good on 24 December, and the organisation behind it ceases to exist on 31 December, a Tweede Kamer hearing was told on Thursday.

The closure was first planned for 31 March, then postponed because no suitable new place had been found for every child. The villas in Vleuten and Waalre already closed for good on 1 July on the orders of the inspectorate, which issued a damning report. Wezep and Rijswijk stay open until the end of the year.

“We simply don't have the money,” said Arina Kruithof, interim director of ExpertCare. The board says no extra financing is coming. Philip Orlik of B. Braun repeatedly stressed that the company cannot keep financing the care because it has lost money on it for years.

When it announced the closures early this year, the organisation said the payment for this specialist care no longer covers its costs.

Lisa Westerveld (PRO) asked why a promise not to close until every child had a place elsewhere was made when it could not be kept.

## Background

- **Tweede Kamer**: The House of Representatives, the lower and more powerful house of the Dutch parliament. Its 150 members are elected directly; it can amend bills and holds the cabinet to account.
- **IGJ (Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd)**: The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate is the Dutch government body that supervises the quality and safety of healthcare and youth care providers. It checks whether care institutions and professionals meet legal standards, and it can issue orders, including ordering a care provider to stop or close its services when children or patients are at risk.

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