That’s it, the ribbon has been officially cut and the doors of the Cayman Islands Health City awaits its first patients
That’s it, the ribbon has been officially cut and the doors of the Cayman Islands Health City awaits its first patients.
Now comes the time for Health City Cayman Islands to demonstrate if the health city model Dr. Devi Shetty began in Bangalore, India, can be successfully recreated in the western world.
On March 10th 2014 the Cayman Islands Health City will welcome its very first patient, and this will mark the day of the beginning. Soon after the first patient, a steady flow of both charitable and paying patients is expected to commence. The lucrative U.S. market is hoped to be broken into once the facility receives accreditation from the Joint Commission International, a marker for quality and safety in the global healthcare community.
The team will consist of 17 doctors from Dr. Shettys Health City in India who will initially staff the hospital, there will then be a recruitment process up until the end of March.
Leader of the Opposition McKeeva Bush, who was premier of the Cayman Islands when the wheels were put in motion to begin the project, indicated the 107,000 square foot structure behind him as he spoke at the opening of the facility Tuesday, saying “The future is that building,” and alluded to the “social, economic and political” ripple effects it would have.
A 2009 Grant Thornton economic impact study estimated this indirect impact revenue to be in the tens of millions after just a few years.
Local partner and project director Gene Thompson spoke of the dedicated efforts to create employment for Caymanians through the venture, with an average of 64 percent of the workers on the construction site being Caymanian. Mr. Thompson hopes this high level of local involvement will continue into the future, saying he “crave(s) the day that 64 percent of the staff are Caymanian and further crave(s) the day that 64 percent of the staff are trained here.”
If all of the proposals come to fruition, Mr. Thompson’s desire may not be so farfetched. To build on the medical interest that Health City has kindled in Cayman, a university catering to up to 3,000 students is planned. This will complement the BSc in Nursing that was implemented at the University College of the Cayman Islands last year, said Health Minister Osbourne Bodden at the opening ceremony, adding that he hoped further courses and enhancements to the curriculum in schools would enable Caymanians to take advantage of new opportunities.
Later this year, the planned expansion will begin as ground is again broken, with a hotel and residences rising from the rubble to accommodate the proposed influx of patients. Next year, phase 2 of the hospital – a 300-bed unit – will begin, allowing the facility to expand its specialties into neurology and oncology, and culminating in a 2,000-bed super-hospital at the end of 15 years of continued development.
Accompanying these plans will be a 1,500-bed assisted living facility for those who can no longer afford U.S. healthcare costs, as well as a commercial park.
Source of InformationCayman Compass
