We have lost an inspiring leader, innovator, colleague and friend.
Marius Buiting died last week aged only 64 and will be sorely missed
(A personal reflection from David Somekh EHFF Director).
Marius Buiting
Marius trained as a physician and a lawyer and was always closely associated with the town and province of Utrecht, the Netherlands. While passionate about improving Dutch and international healthcare, he was a multi-faceted individual who also gave a great deal of time to charitable work, especially in connection with the Catholic church. There are more detailed tributes from his charity work: https://www.barmhartigheid.nl/marius-buiting-vrijdenker-in-barmhartigheid-met-hart-en-ziel/ and from NVTZ, the organisation where he was CEO for the last 13years: http://www.linkedin.com/posts/nvtz_we-are-sad-to-announce-the-death-of-our-beloved-activity-7242858621661851648-jG9q
I met Marius in 1998 in Budapest, when with Charles Shaw, he oversaw the formation of the European Society for Quality in Healthcare, and he was their first President. This NGO reflected Marius’ earlier work, when as a Dutch civil servant, he helped draft an innovative law on quality assurance in health. At the beginning of the 2000’s Marius worked closely with Bertrand Jouslin de Noray, then General Secretary of the European Organisation for Quality, to set up and oversee a series of international meetings (Summer camps) dedicated to knowledge about transformational change in organisations, which ran for more than ten years.
Around 2011, Marius, a couple of others and I approached the European Commission regarding the setting up of a European health NGO committed to promoting the transformation of the health ecosystem and as a result EHFF was launched in 2013, with Marius as its first Chair of the Board.
Marius was ever an inspiring thinker, always full of ideas and had contributed significantly to the development of the mission of EHFF up to the present time.
Marius was also fun to be with. His enquiring mind and good humour encouraged and supported those around him reflecting his caring nature.
It will take some time for us all to come to terms with his passing, our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.