High hopes for Shetty hospital and economic diversity

(CNS): The premier has said he does not need a $500,000 consultant to tell him that the project proposed by Dr Devi Shetty for a medical tourism facility in the Cayman Islands is a good idea. Speaking at the signing of a deal between the Indian doctor and an American health care company last week, McKeeva Bush said the project would bring significant benefits to the Cayman Islands. The hospital, which is scheduled to get underway this summer, is seen as the first step in the much hoped for diversification of the islands’ economy. Bush said the “eyes of the world" would be on Cayman as the project unfolded and the islands emerged as a medical destination of choice.

Welcoming the partnership that Dr Shetty’s Naranyana Group have entered into with the Missouri-based US health care company, Ascension Health, he said that with the advent of this project Caymanians would have access to medical care at home instead of having to travel overseas.

“With the addition of a new state-of-the-art hospital and ancillary facilities Caymanians will have access to world class health care without having to travel abroad,” he said.

Welcoming many aspects of the development, he said this was one of the most important elements, given the money government spends on overseas medical care for its people, and it would come about without the need for income tax or property tax. “The fact that our islands will have local … access to this kind of tertiary level care means a tremendous amount to the government and to the people,” he said.

Bush pointed to the jobs that would be created as well as training and educational opportunities for Caymanians in the health care field.

“The timing couldn’t be better,” Bush said. “This project will generate significant revenue in direct and indirect spinoffs. Many business sectors stand to gain, from hotels and restaurants to tourist attractions and transport. There are other benefits … it will result in extra revenue collected from duty, employment for local contractors and other opportunities for Caymanians and an increase in tourism.”

With a long list of what he said would be benefits, Bush described the project as his “kind of business” — not income or property tax — and said that the economy could grow this way. “This visionary project will result in new industries and new opportunities.”

Bush said that medical tourism was a growing business and Cayman has the right environment for the Shetty project.

Thanking those involved in bringing the project together, he pointed out that bureaucracy could be overwhelming and difficult as he once again called for red tape to be cut in order to save money.

“I didn’t need a five hundred thousand dollar consultant to tell me that this project was good and that we were doing the right thing; I didn’t need to do that,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, Health Minister Mark Scotland said that a tremendous amount of work and negotiations had gone into getting to the stage where the project was now. He said the project would not only contribute to the wealth of the economy but it would contribute to the health of the country as well.

Although it would primarily be a medical tourism destination, it would also provide a level of tertiary care for local people currently only available overseas. He said a considerable amount of money is spent every year by both government and private health insurance companies on accessing overseas health care. And while the Shetty project would help save money, it would also save time, which, Scotland said, was often even more important when it comes to health because saving time can save lives.

He said that in the first phase the project would require as many as 600 employees and Caymanians would be trained for many of these jobs. He said the UCCI had already begun working on a nursing degree course ready for this coming academic year and the Narayana group was also committed to training local employees and encouraging people to go into the health care profession.

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