Archive for April 8th, 2014
First Shetty patient a local
(CNS):The Shetty hospital has completed its first operation, not on a medical tourist but a Caymanian patient. The very first person to go under the knife at the state-of the-art facility underwent a cardiac procedure Tuesday, which, given its complexity, would in the past have been done off island, hospital officials said. The first patient was operated on by the chief interventional cardiologist and electro-physiologist of the new hospital, Dr Ravi Kishore, and not the world famous Dr Devi Shetty. As a result of patient confidentiality, the hospital was unable to release more but Dr Chandy Abraham, the medical and facility director, said the completed procedure marked a milestone in the history of hospital.
“We are pleased to announce this day has finally arrived and we are now officially delivering the highest level of tertiary-care services and patient care in our new, state-of-the-art facility,” he said. “We are grateful for the hard work of our dedicated doctors and staff who have made it possible for us to reach this historical day.”
As well as the first local patient, the facility director said that the hospital was now welcoming overseas patients this week. “We have started consultations and scheduling of appointments and procedures and are looking forward to further engaging our guests and patients in the future,” Dr Chandy added.
Although the facility has been billed as kick-starting the country’s much anticipated third economic leg of medical tourism, it will also be undertaking further local operations, Dr Chandy stated.
“Health City provides expanded tertiary medical care in the areas of cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, specialty orthopaedics and pulmonology, which negates the need for many Cayman Islands residents to travel to the US for this specialised medical care. Not only does this provide a more cost effective option for treatment but it means local patients can undergo surgery and recovery with the support of their family close by,” the doctor said.
Health City Cayman Islands will provide adult and paediatric and cardiology services, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, specialty orthopaedics, pulmonology and paediatric endocrinology.
Over the next decade, the hospital will expand to a 2,000-bed facility, and expects to be a JCI (Joint Commission International, USA) accredited facility, providing care in major specialties including neurology, oncology and other cutting edge tertiary care. The complex is also planning a medical university and an assisted-care living community.
ICTA seeks public view on future of local TV
(CNS): The body responsible for regulating TV broadcasting is asking for public input on redefining the future of local television. People are being asked by the ICTA to consider questions on the primary issues, set out in a paper published Tuesday, relating to how local content is delivered and what it means. At present all of the licensed TV providers who charge a subscription to their customers should deliver some local free television but the obligation was written into the licence almost a decade ago. Faced with significant changes in how TV is now provided, the regulator says it needs to be reviewed and asks if it is still even appropriate to require licensees to provide free local programming.
The Information Communication and Technology Authority said it is considering whether the local television service obligation is still fit for purpose and is asking the community to submit thoughts, comments, ideas and general input by 7 May. This will inform the recommendations the regulator will make to the government on amendments to the current licences and the introductionof regulations to govern the TV sector.
The authority is asking first and foremost whether the public believes, given the cost of producing original programming, whether television service licensees should still be obligated to provide any kind of local television service. The regulator said that it is unlikely that any TV service provider would produce local TV programmes without being obligated.
The ICTA is also asking how local content should be defined, if there should be a quality standard by which the content is measured, and if so, what should it be and who would assess whether it meets the standard.
How many hours per day of local content should each licensee provide and when should it be shown, are further questions raised by the ICTA in the paper. The regulator is also asking for input on how much of the local programming should be original and if licensees should be obligated to commission a certain percentage of content from local producers.
Given that most of the TV providers are now utilising the internet or digital technology to provide their programming, how customers and local people received the free local TV also remains open to question.
The ICTA said the discussion about what local television provision means for those living here is an important issue of public interest and urged people to submit their views. The ICTA said it is focused on how the current TV subscription service providers should deliver free local TV, exactly what that local TV should be and whether or not the requirement is still appropriate.
The ICTA said there is currently an obligation on five licensees, Infinity (known as C3), Digicel, LIME, WestTel (also referred to as Logic) and WestStar, to provide some type of "public local television service". Calling for contributions, the ICTA added that review does not cover the general non-local television content provided by those TV licence holders. It also stated that the input paper does not deal with regulation relating to images, the language broadcast, or whether or not the Cayman Islands' current copyright legislation should be amended, as it ducked out of the current broadcast battles between LIME, WestStar and HBO.
All input on the paper, which can be found on the ICTA website here and posted below should be sent in writing to the ICTA by no later than 5pm on 7 May. You can call the ICTA to request a hard copy via post.
Submissions may be e-mailed to consultations@icta.ky or by post to: Information and Communications Technology Authority, P.O. Box 2502, Grand Cayman KY1-1104, CAYMAN ISLANDS.
Hand delivered to Information and Communications Technology Authority, 3rd Floor, Alissta Towers, 85 North Sound Road, Grand Cayman, CAYMAN ISLANDS or faxed to: (345) 945-8284
The authority said all submissions will be posted on its website at www.icta.ky within 5 days of the closing date of this call for input unless such input is considered by the Authority as being confidential.
3 street robberies in 1 night
(CNS): Police are investigating three different street muggings in George Town on Monday night going into Tuesday morning and have apprehended suspects in two of the overnight offences. The night of crime began with a report around 7.30pm when a 56- year-old man suffered cuts and bruises when he was robbed of his jewellery, wallet and passport by two men on Shedden Road. The second incident happened on Dr Roys Drive at about 8:45pm when two teens mugged a security guard outside a bank grabbing his bag and running off. At 12:30am this morning a 23 year old man of a small amount of coins by a robber armed with a knife on the forecourt of Delworth’s Esso Gas station on North Church Street.
The three street robberies come in the wake of a daylight doorstep mugging outside Lakeside Condos on Monday morning in what appears to be another crime wave.
The first of last night's street crimes happened when a Cuban national was set upon by robbers near the Nevlaw Building on Shedden Road at about 7-30pm. No weapons were used, poice said, but the victim was injured and treated at the George Town hospital. Police have made no arrests in that case and are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or who has information that could assist the police is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Charmane Huntley, George Town CID at 949-4222.
Meanwhile, police later apprehended two seventeen year old boys who are currently in custody after they grabbed a bag belonging to a security guard who was on duty outside the Caledonian Bank at around a quarter to nine. The man was uninjured in that incident and police recovered the bag and arrested the two suspects for theft shortly after the incident.
Then at around 12:30am, going into Tuesday morning at Delworth’s Esso Gas station, North Church Street a male resident was robbed at knife point of a few coins which he handed over without injury. When police responded to the incident a 43-year-old male was arrested shortly after on suspicion of robbery and a knife was also recovered by the police. He is also currently in custody at the George Town Police Station.
Anyone who witnessed either of these two incidents or may have information that could assist the police is asked to contact Detective Constable 261 Santo, George Town CID at 949-4222. People with information on these or any other crime in Cayman who wish to remain anonymous can contact CRIME STOPPERS at 800-8477 (TIPS)
Weather delays Cubans bounds for Honduras
(CNS): A boat with fifteen Cuban migrants is currently stuck in Cayman waters as bad weather is delaying their planned journey to Honduras. The vessel is currently understood to be moored off the coast of East End. Officials have not stated the exact location but stated that the authorities were monitoring the boat. Immigration officials said that the latest group to enter Cayman waters, which includes six females and nine men, arrived in the Brac last Saturday evening (5 April). The group headed out to sea later that night, bound for Honduras but arrived off Grand Cayman yesterday at around 2.00pm indicating that inclement weather was hindering their journey.
The migrants have not asked to come ashore and hope to continue on their way once the weather clears as there appears to be no structural damage to their boat.
At present there are 57 Cubans in the Cayman Islands awaiting deportation as none are ever granted asylum. Authorities have detained 40 migrants for processing at the Immigration Detention Centre and there are also 16 on Cayman Brac awaiting transfer to Grand Cayman, while one man who arrived last month remains on the run, having escaped the Fairbanks detention facility in George Town on 27 March.