Cayman is ideal location says Dr Shetty
(CNS): Cardiac surgeon Dr Devi Shetty has said the Cayman Islands is the perfect jurisdiction to launch a medical tourism product. The doctor, who has proposed to build a 2000 bed health city somewhere on Grand Cayman, says medical tourism will work here because of its proximity to the US, which has an expensive and badly managed health system. Cayman, Devi says, offers the perfect alternative place for Americans looking for inexpensive quality treatment as it is a secure, well-developed country known to the US public. He also said the Cayman government’s willingness to both facilitate the movement of international healthcare workers and amend the necessary legislation will open the doors to this lucrative industry.
Speaking at the country’s first national healthcare conference at the Ritz last week, Shetty said that the health care business is the second biggest industry in the world and still growing. The Cayman Islands is well positioned to capitalise on business from the entire United States, the doctor stated. With $2.5 million of the world spend of $4.trillion on healthcare spent in the country, Cayman would only need to attract a fraction of the patients to sustain a medical tourism sector, the doctor said.
He pointed to the likely changes in the United States to a more socialised form of medicine, and with an ageing population this would lead to waiting lists for treatment that would see US residents looking elsewhere for healthcare, and Cayman was the perfect place. Dr Shetty also indicated that, as the population in the US grew older, those elderly people would be looking for affordable assisted living where they would have access to healthcare at home that could offer the same environment to what they were used to in the States
He described Cayman as the world’s best kept secret, and because government was willing to be flexible over medical workers, he would be able to charge up to 60% less for care here in Cayman than the patients would pay in the US.
Dr Shetty also said that because Cayman is attractive the world’s leading doctors and surgeons would want to live and work here. He said this was not just about Indian doctors, as he said they were well paid and well looked after in their own country, but it applied to those from the US as well.
Shetty said he had no plans to flood Cayman with Indian workers as had been suggested, as that would be short sighted. He said the priority would be to give work to Caymanians in the first instance in every sector but thousands of jobs will eventually be created by medical tourism.
In his presentation about the possibilities for a medical industry for Cayman, Shetty also pointed to the idea of the jurisdiction becoming a hub for biotech-research. He said if Cayman were to give status to a few Nobel laureates working in the field then they would come and do their research here. The doctor said that here were numerous scientists and researchers looking for places to work where there were no archaic laws holding them back. Shetty said, however, that he would not be conducting any stem cell research at his facility once it was built.
In a question and answer session after his presentation at the Ritz Carlton on Friday afternoon local doctor Steve Tomlinson questioned Shetty’s figures and said he did not think his model would work and that the Indian doctor’s assumptions about the situation in the US were incorrect.
Others also queried why elderly people would come to Cayman for treatment when the cost of living here was so high and considerably cheaper in Florida.
Shetty pointed to the issue of care in the home, which he said was unaffordable in the US. He acknowledged that the cost of living in Cayman was similar to the US but he said the patients would make savings on the treatmentand care which they simply could not get in America.
Category: Health
cuba maybe not cayman
Most of these comments are unbelievably stupid. Of course it will cause traffic, of course it will mean more houses and schools are needed, of course lots of jobs will have to go to expats, of course it requires free land and favorable laws, of course there will be foreign doctors, of course there is competition elsewhere for medical tourism, of course Shetty is takng a risk, of course he’s not going to show you his profit projections, of course the local doctors are freaking out.
On the other hand, it is probably the best thing to come Cayman’s way in the past 50 years.
‘He acknowledged that the cost of living in Cayman was similar to the US’…..
This just shows how little he knows about the U.S. period. New York, California and Hawaii are closest in cost of living to Cayman but even they are substantially cheaper in food cost, clothing and utilities. The rest of the U.S. is substantially lower in the cost of living and some places in the South and Mid-West are ten times cheaper to live.
New York-Tri State and Cali are much more expensive than Cayman, not even close.
Florida (at least away from the coast) is cheaper than Cayman. Middle America is much cheaper.
The Canadian health care establishment is taking a hard look at medical tourism. Some medical tourists take risks against their doctor’s warnings, and then show up later, with post-op complications. All the after-care, and extra costs are paid by the CDN taxpayer. Unfortunately, some of these patients don’t survive. An Ontario man died recently from complications of "The Liberation" operation for MS in Costa Rica….
Do you know how many people die from complications of surgeries in the U.S. and Canada? They should clean up their own backyards first.
The point was that physicians in the patient home countries have problems treating post-op complications, because they are unfamiliar with the operation process (eg. stents put in veins, which is not done in NA), and do not have the medical documentation or ability to consult with the surgeons in the medical tourism country where the original operation was performed. So to even diagnose the problem they have to do a myriad of tests etc. and try to figure out what was done in the first place.
That is indeed an interesting case, because the Canadian doctors were loathe to intervene, due to the fact that this elective procedure was done outside Canada, by physicians that were not licensed in Canada.
I think that this will be one of the professional/ethical issues that "medical tourism" and insurance companies/programs will have to deal with, as we go along.
I applaud the idea as I feel that this will greatly expand medical tourism on our Islands. However, I just hope that this will also open up job opportunities for Caymanian Doctors, other medical personnel, maintenance workers etc…rather than flooding it with pure expatriates. Right now we are in a crisis due to a lack of jobs so it is important that we look out for our people in the process.
You should ask, how will medical tourism expand, if local doctors are limited from expanding it??? For a healthy and affordable job/business market in Cayman, where is are Shetty’s competitors???
I agree with Dr Shetty vision.
Rather than beating it up by some medical practitioners locally, lets us be fare and objective.
By the way, we are not putting in our money to build it. At this stage of the world’s economy including Cayman, we should welcome investments.
Let us not sit on a pedestel and watch positive opportunities go by.
They do not come by everyday
I have no problem with Dr. Shetty, but he way this is being done just to have him set up hospital here, is a major concern! An agreement was made between him and the government without the public being educated as to what was stipulated therein!
Remember in 1974,after Interbank closed on west bay road,they tried to do some medical stuff from that bldg ?..Did not last long…remember ??
on
When comparing costs you have to consider taxes. In Cayman you pay $5 for something that in Miami costs $3.50… what you need to realize is that for the person in Miami to buy that item… they must earn $6… pay taxes and then use the remaining $3.50 to buy the item.
So indeed, the cost of living is comparable.
I don’t at all agree that this competes with Dr. Tomlinson’s Hospital because it has no heart or cancer unit and this is what Dr. Shetty’s hospital specializes in.
I think we all win with this project and as to costs, as it is privately funded the costs don’t really matter but a guesstimate would be $1.3 million per hospital bed or almost $3 billion over a ten year period.
That is … one million dollars a day… every day… from today… for the next ten years injected into our local markets.
But this is for the hospital only. The contractors will have to be housed and fed and when they’re done… all the new workers will likewise need housing.
Now factor in … the long term stay over guests coming to this hospital. We will need many local eating establishments. Long term aftercare facilities.
Frankly, my only real concern is that… our little sandbar might literally not be big enough for such a grand project… the scale of this is massive.
much… much… much… much larger than Atlantis Casino in Nassau … from an income, jobs and tourists point of view.
Honestly, I see a whole new group of local business owners being developed to cater to the needs of this facility.
Working alone or having your own local medical center, is better than working for someone or under someone – Don’t you think? You are looking at the monie, but we are looking at our freedom to own and have a market that competes.
Cayman desperately needs to diversify its economic base. So well thought out diversifications such as educational and medical tourism (unfortunate terms) are to be encouraged.
But, as I have written in a recent viewpoint and in a comment on the DUI viewpoint, I do not believe it is helpful or necessary to cap non economic damages/compensation for personal injuries, whether from medical malpractice or drunken driving. Proceeding to do so without a full discussion of the public policy issues, the options and possible outcomes (intended and unintended) is extremely unwise.
Of course he likes the idea of doing business here. Why the hell not? He has not yet even bought the land and Big Mac and the Cayman Islands government are already his peons. He is not clueless to the fact that the people here are more than willing to prostitute themselves and their country for the promise of some buck$. He knows that he is safe to call the shots and make demands because Caymanians are under heavy manners and too docile and impotent to do resist regardless of what concessions he demands. I doubt he would find such a sweet deal in any other country in the region. I am sure he is smiling if he is reading this because he knows what I write is true.
Caymanians seem oblivious to the dawning of a New Order, one in which democracy and their government have taken a back seat to the triumvirate rule of Dart, Shetty and Ryan.
This should wake people up a bit, but I doubt it as is it very difficult to arouse the comatose: Has anyone here bothered to take a look at what our competition is doing relative to medical tourism? I thought not.
In far closer proximity to the USA, the Bahamas have resolved to further develop their fledgling medical tourism industry. They have experienced a few glitches but are now on track to attract providers of quality health care who will open and operate facilities in that country. But this is where any similarity between the foolish path we are heading down and the plan the Bahamas is formulating.
In an agreement, the terms of which were not even discussed with the public until well after being signed, Shetty was given a monopoly in the industry with no local competition and no one other than Shetty to be involved in "setting the bar". We will be stuck with one mega facility; a facility where Shetty alone sets the standard, sets the prices and calls the shots government must make. Bad idea. The amount of unrestrained political influence that Shetty would have as the islands single largest employer is apparently beyond the grasp of the people of these islands as I have not see the subject broached in any forum or media. He has not yet broken ground for his facility and already government is bending over backwards to accommodate Shetty. This is something to consider very soberly.
While local developers and business suffer under the burden of increased duties and fees, the abundantly wealthy Shetty company has been given exemption from taxes and most duties for up to 100 years! Imagine how much bending they will do once the hospital is established. Worse yet, the deal explicitly prohibits similar concessions to be offered to any other entity, Caymanian or no, wishing to enter the industry prior to 2015.
To their credit, the Bahamas is taking a wiser and more deliberate approach. They are not rushing the process as are we. They are developing a policy framework as a priority. We are allowing Shetty to dictate policy and reform laws in regard to medical tourism. The Bahamas is encouraging a wide range of providers in a wide range of specialties to bring in their proposals. The Bahamas wants to encourage diversity. The agreement with Shetty establishes a monopoly. Rather than encouraging development of a medical tourism industry, the Cayman Islands is establishing Shetty as the only ball game in town until 2015. Mac and Scotland have slammed the door shut to any other hospital group wishing to open up a facility in the Caymans. The agreement bars competitors to Shetty, including Caymanian from establishing larger-scale medical facilities, in effect making Shetty the sole operator in the medical tourism area. Another bad idea.
Medical tourism is currently an up and coming industry. The Bahamas and several other Caribbean countries, including Cuba are vying for position in the industry. Much growth is expected in the next five years. The agreement with Shetty means that we will exclude others from coming here during a time of rapid growth in the industry. If barred from coming here, health care providers will simply establish operations in a competing country, relegating us to Shetty remainnig the only ball game in town and rendering us a second choice destination due to lack of competition and narrow range of options.
A most critical difference is the branding and quality of provider the Bahamas is encouraging. Doctors Hospital in Nassau was the first hospital in the Caribbean to achieve international accreditation from Joint Commission International (JCI). This certifies that the Doctors Hospital meets international standards and conforms to US guidelines on patient care and patient safety, while conforming to an ongoing program that ensures continuous improvement.
The Bahamas is courting well known prestigious and well respected "brand" names associated with quality care, like the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic. We will have Shetty from Bangalore, India.
Shetty’s model relies on high-volume assembly-line medicine using economies of scale to keep costs low. Fine idea for cheaply made cars, but I have my misgivings about using that model for medical care. It is expected that if care costs are similar, most patients from North America will choose a name they know and trust over an entirely "foreign" provider.
This country seems absolutely desperate to rush headlong into bed with Shetty, grab the buck$ and damn the costs. Why?
So well said, and should not the training and recruitement for the many Caymanians jobs begin NOW. No lets amend the law first. I’ve seen this movie before. did not care for the ending
If the Bahamas are so much smarter than we are, why does Nassau looks like a city in Jamaica or Trinidad and the average Bahamian so poor.
Bahamas has been great at the mega-facilities like Atlantis (which by the way, would give it the same leverage over gov’t that you complain Shetty will have here – and I would trust Shetty over XXXX any day of the week) but they have been equally horrible at finding ways to help the middle class citizens.
The average Bahamian is only slightly ahead of a the average Jamaican while the average Caymanian is on par with the average American. You tell me which country is doing a better job.
I’ve seen this movie before.
Some politicians and a few real estate developers will get rich off this. Maybe a few Caymanians will get jobs cleaning bed pans.
Beyond that the only impact this will have on Grand Cayman is more traffic congestion, more crime, more stress, more environmental degradation, more layers of inefficient bureaucracy, etc.
Just how stupid are we?
Dr. Devi Shetty competes with Steve Tomlinson and local doctors. Competition is good for the medical field. However, the question that sticks, is:- How much will government interfere with the "competitional process" between Shetty and the local doctors? With the rules drawn by this government, will the local doctors have fair play, being able to control the costs of medical treatment?
If not… and Shetty’s Medical Center has full sway in our market with little competition, don’t expect him to remain affordable for long!
This is strange and not strange at same time.
Here we have Dr. Tomlinson questioning Dr Shetty on the numbers and saying they won’t work while he and a bunch of other financiers are planning on doing something similar but with far less beds.
I mean it’s doesn’t surprise me in one regards because he is self motivated for Dr Shetty to fail as he himself has everything to loose namely CTM XXXXX. If Dr Shetty facility does come to fruition CTM days will be numbered.
Next who would you think would have a better grasp at how this would work and if it would. Dr Shetty a world renouned Surgeon who has done this before and has all but single handedly lowered health care cost by BILLIONS of dollars in India or the head of our 80-100 bed Hospital who’s business knowledge is limited at best. I don’t know about you but I’m leaning a little bit more towards Dr Shetty on this.
XXXXX
I can not sit here and said with 100% surity that this will work out exactly as Dr. Shetty says it will because even the best laid plans can run amuke. Nothing ever runs as smoothly as it does on paper but I would say this, it sounds logical to me that it should work. It might take some time but it should work.
i would love to see a detailed cost plan regarding this? I’m sure ithas not been done yet….
‘He acknowledged that the cost of living in Cayman was similar to the US’…..
this proves how little he knows about cayman…… Cayman has never and will never be able to do something low cost……