Shetty to inject $7m a month
CNS): The construction of Dr Devi Shetty’s hospital will inject around $7 to $8 million into the local economy each month once it gets underway and will employ more than 200 people. Gene Thompson, the local project director, said that, according to the team working on the project, Health City Cayman Islands, the commitment to employ local labour and purchase materials locally remained. With the plans now submitted and a hearing date on 8 January, Thompson said construction would be underway in earnest on the first phase before the end of the month. He said the construction pad was already complete at the site in East End, where around a dozen people were currently working.
Speaking a press briefing Friday to update the media and the public about the latest developments, Thompson admitted that there had been some starting and stopping as far as the project was concerned because of regulatory issues, but the team was confident that everything would be in place soon. As a result, the original target opening date of November 2013 has been pushed to early 2014.
“We can only go as fast as the process will allow and it is a complex project, but everything is moving and we are confident that the project is on track,” he said.
Although questions have been raised about the ability of the local infrastructure to sustain the project, which will go to 2000 plus beds over the next fifteen years, Thompson said that the airport and roads would be able to sustain the first phase. However, in time the airport would become an issue, but he was confident that would be dealt with as it was required in general and not just to support this particular development.
Thompson promised that the Shetty hospital would be a sustainable project that would be almost self-contained and utilise a number of green measures. Landscaping, he said, would be all local vegetation.
The group is still working with government, in particular the health minister, on issues such as the human tissue donation law, which, Thompson said, was expected to be in place by early next year. Most of the other issues that had delayed the project had been addressed.
On a visit to Cayman to announce his intention to give away 100 heart operations for free around the region, Dr Shetty said he was very pleased with the pace with which the project was moving.
“We are14 months away from the first heart surgery at Cayman Health City,”Dr Shetty said, revealing that the team have also identified the senior people in the US who will head up the hospital once it opens.
Focusing on heart patients, he explained that with around 40 million in people in the Caribbean, more than 20,000 of them will need a heart operation each year, otherwise they will die. In reality, only around 1,000 of them ever get access to the treatment. Health City Cayman Islands would change that, he said, pointing to the goal to build up a centre of excellence. A regular heart bypass in the Cayman hospital is going to be about US$20,000, which is less than half the current cost in the USA.
With the introduction of a specialist travel visa designed for medical tourists, Shetty said this would cut down on time and enable patients to get to Cayman quickly when they need their operation.
Category: Health
Wish McKeeva would INJECT money into our economy instead of taking ALL he can get and wasting $$$ from the public purse on his endless travels as he meanders the world striking up shady UNCONSULTED and UNAPPROVED deals.
That's a lot of heart attacks! Any idea how much he is charging?
"A regular heart bypass in the Cayman hospital is going to be about US$20,000, which is less than half the current cost in the USA". He doesn't do vision exams though.
Gene has a right to be concerned about the roads and airport being expanded to accommodate the increased tourist the Shetty Hospital will bring.
He knows that government hasn't completed the previous expansion to accommodate the increased tourist from the huge hotel that he was building across from Meagre Bay pond a few years ago.
Please remember that we are all potential heart attack victims. If so diagnosed with a serious heart condition which requires immediate surgery or care by the experts in the field- equal to that elsewhere- If you are in a position to decide between being flown off hundreds of miles away for help, and a 25 minute shuttle to East End considering that the facility is up and running and fully functional- which would you prefer? if you don’t have the answer- try asking someone who have suffered a life threatening heart condition and see what they say-be honest and post your responses please. I am sure they would tell you the latter.
This project will be a blessing for the Cayman Islands- please refrain from negative remarks about the project and be optimistic, and while you are thinking whether or not such life live saving emergency care should be done locally or overseas, guess who could possibly be the next heart victim? In the event that you don’t know the answer to that- here it is. YOU!
Take care of your heart- we only have one. Be blessed people!
Just make your early reservation for one of our two ambulances.
Ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you!
The Entitlement Logic.
What a bunch of whiners!!!
Wha wha wha! What about me? Why do they get to work hard and make all this money without giving me any? Wha wha wha…
you forget that we gave him millions in concessions…unless I have a heart attack, what is the payback. allI am asking for that he make an investment in our youth and start some type of scholarship fund..
Last I checked nothing is free in life…
This is an incredible opportunity for the Cayman Islands with huge benefits across many sectors with the potential to invest millions of dollars annually and for Caymanians to go get qualified if they so want and become doctors, nurses etc… Or start a boutique hotel. Or a restaurant. Or start many other businesses in the area.
I am disgusted by the pathetic comments continually on this site that everyone thinks every project (let alone a private project) has to directly benefit them. This project could go anywhere. But it is here and we are extremely lucky if even one tenth of this project comes to fruition.
I for one look forward to my children now having a much better opportunity to becomes doctors if they want to. I wished I had such an opportunity growing uo. Times were much harder then and people were grateful to have jobs and worked hard for them. So many lazy entitled people who feel the world owes them something rather than having to earn it. Such a sad bad minded mentality so many people (at least on this site) have today.
Gene Thompson is a good man and Dr Shetty appears to be the same. I hope they do not read this site with all these bickering children constantly complaining about anything and everything. I wonder what you people do with your day to day life. Take a look in the mirror. Youare truly unhappy with yourselves not everyone else. Stop tearing down everyone who tries something. So many crabs in a bucket! Go make a change for your future and you will be a better person!
Caymanian
Maybe McKeeva will get a brain transplant as a result of this deal.
Or maybe his funny bone removed because he is such a joker
i would advise dr shetty(and the real investors) to review the business plan for this project very carefully…… someone is getting the wool pulled over their eyes….
Your giving him advice on a CNS forum!? Seriously?
Bwa hahahahaha!
as with most thingsin cayman….this proposed project stilll leaves us with more questions than answers……
the whole idea of low cost anything in cayman….is the greatest caymankind oxymoron of them all……
Bring on the entitlement minded idiots!
Yes this plan could help inject much needed money into the economy instantly and then become a third pillar to the economy forever but wants in it for me?
How about Cayman not going bankrupt? How about a huge new tourism industry? How about the chance for your child to become a doctor?
How about you grow up?
You need to grow up…giving one man control of the third pillar of our economy for 99 years doesn't sound very good to me..Not only that but look at the millions and millions of our dollars given in concession to make two men richer..
Mark my words unless you are one the lucky 100 you will end up in hospital in Miami anyway.
This ishow it's shaping up for less than five years from now
The Chinese will own and control our port
The Canadians will own and control our airport
The Indians will own and control our Health Care
DART (Americans) will control the Liquor and Duty Free, and waste management
DART will own and controlGeorge Town
Caymanians will be picking sh#t with the chickens.
Kirky and Alice will be joined by lots of friends and the Rotary Clubs will install more benches (beds) on the West Bay road to accomodate them
I'm glad you brought up Kirky and Alice, what are the other racist Caymanians doing to help them as they wither to their deaths? Look at how you are looking after each other while you criticize those that care for others.
Bring on the entitlement…… stop smoking that stuff it's not legal yet. Wait for the much needed money into the economy. I am still waiting for the money tree to sprout from the seed that was planted from the Ritz Carlton days. As for Cayman going bankrupt, sorry to burst your bubble it is already bankrupt spend more than you make,no savings, bankrupt! What huge new tourism industy? please hold your breath and wait. I have a better suggestion trying reviving the old tourism product by employing Real Caymanians again. As for any child becoming a doctor they don't have to get a degree just because Cayman Health Center is coming here. I believe we still have St. Matthews University and the government still provides scholarships to qualified applicants (as long as UCC is still around they will give honarary PhDs in exchange for status grants to natives of their country). Caymanian who question, disagree or object to any UDP scheme cannot grow up because the fountain of youth was given to us by Cayman Health Center and the money seeds that were planted by Ritz Carlton have now grown into huge money trees in the middle of the Cayman Trench. So like Peter Pan we will never grow up we now have all the money in the world to buy the fountain of youth.
More UDP propaganda.. But they can’t tell you the truth. Which is the first opportunity to give the design of the hospital or the construction to Cayman companies resulted in US companies being given the work and some crumbs given to the Caymanians facilitating these companies.
how much was the land 'bought' for?
have they got their financing in place?
sorry for the awkward questions!
This is a very interesting topic. I flew into Cayman a few weeks ago on American Airlines and was met by an all Philippine ground crew who was even, in broken English, welcoming home the locals. On my return the entire check in and gate staff were Filipinos as were most of the security check people, many of them again with not a very good command of the English Language.
I suppose if I return and go to your hospital there will all be Indians.
Cayman people, I love your islands but what I have been coming here for over the last 30 years is the warm and friendly feeling of your people. I see very few any more. It is very sad!
I have to say Kudos to Cayman Airways because as I sat and listened to the flights boarding around me I noticed that they an all of the other airlines had people with the friendly Cayman accent that I have grown to love.
American Airlines run by Filipinos in Cayman…Unfortunately my friend you may see more Filipinos on your next trip if the government decides to give Cayman Airways to Phillipine Airlines. I wouldn't listen for that Cayman accent for much longer.
Nothing on this island is for Caymanians anymore. Everything is for sale including our people.
I wish them the best…
Good job they injecting USD6-7m in the East End…that about balances the USD6-7m that gets injected into West bay/ SMB addicts each year. Balance is a wonderful thing, legal drugs one end, the other….
But Ezzard does not support this Shetty project and has great knowledge on health care issues. Why does the country not listen to Ezzard on Rooster Tuesday mornings?
Ezzard no longer wants to hear the term, "silly season" used to describe the foolish ravings of people who want to get a seat in the LA.
Nonsense.
Where are these numbers coming from?
$7m per month ?
What a load
Damn….Man Dr Devi Shetty should have gotten that status instead of Harry Chandi!! Mr. Mandersons & LA, please swap this around! We got the wrong man.
to poster 13:49 proximity to USA means nothing if you can’t afford the care , it’s millions living right in the us that can’t afford the care there. this is the whole point of this hospital, low cost care . and about malpractice people care more about getting treated.and when it comes to something technical as heart surgery the chances of something going wrong increases. it’s not quite a buck toe , so be thankful you might be glad to use this hospital one day.give it chance.
$7 to $8 million a month? Yeah right!!!!
I know of a fact that there are millions living in the USA who cannot afford the health care there but what makes you believe that if they can find US$20,000.00 to pay for services in the Cayman Islands at the Shetty Hospital and given the option of paying the same to go to Panama to an affiliate of Cleveland Clinic (a #1 heath care USA facility) in a jurisdiction that the cost is much less than Cayman that they would not choose the better option (only a fool would take the an option of lesser value). As a matter of fact I have asked the question to a few Medicare patients who said if given the option of going to Dr. Shetty's hospital and Cleveland Clinic Panama they would choose the latter. I agree people care more about getting treated but believe me if I have a family to take care of I would weight my options very carefully malpractice cap would factor into the decision (just in case). I just might be glad to use the hospital on day but until that day, I will continue to give it a prayer and hope for a chance.
Wow incredible that this is actually happening! Go Team Shetty!!!
Naysayers need not post!
Caymanians need not apply!
And how many of that 200 will be Caymanians or people already resident on the island?
Well the nurses will come from India,
The Doctors will come from India,
In fact nearly all will come from India.
Best thing for Cayman is a new curry house in the east.
I can't stand the smell of curry
There is nothing quite like xenophobia with an undercurrent of racism to get the juices flowing.
You are so right xenophobia and racism gets the juices flowing for fools; I just hope that the caste system will not be practiced here because I hate that just as much or more than xenophobia and racism .
This hospital sounds too good to be true. What I would really like to know is what will be the target market for these proposed patients, I will assume the Caribbean, Latin America and Central America. Let's assume that people from Bahamas, BVI, TCI, Anguilla or even Bermuda will not choose to come here with their close proximity to the USA, economic status and availability of health insurance, they will most likely chose the USA that in the event of a medical mistake the malpractice amount is not capped to an amount as little as US$50,000.00. Now on to Latin America, in Panama there is an affiliate hospital of Cleveland Clinic Hospital. I don't believe lots of patient from Latin America will come here as opposed to going to the Cleveland Clinic in Panama for basically the same amount as they could in Cayman but I might be wrong.
I am undecided whether I should file the Shetty Hospital in my Boondoggle file or my Red Herring file. Should I take a poll?
P.S. Those dozen workers are going to need some help if they're going to use up that $7 to $8 million.
This is the best thing to happen to the Cayman Islands since MRCU and Dr. Marco controlling the mosquito population. Reduced healthcare cost for Caymanians and at an affordable price, thank you Dr. Shetty, Mr. Thompson and the UDP.
The MRCU still uses a chemical in the spraying which is illegal in many other countries. Many locals believe that it is the chemical spraying of the mosquitoes which has causedthe high numbers of cancer patients in the Cayman Islands. Unfortunately another hospital is warranted but potentially they should add another main service of treating/curing cancer patients.
How much are you getting out of the deal?
oh please!!! This will be like Enterprise City, lots of hype and very little impact. 200 beds hardly does anything for this economy, and with most of the cash flowing back to India i doubt we will see anything beyond the construction phase.
UDP will go down in history as doing nothing for the local Hospital and everything for a foreign owned facility. By the way what does Gene know about operating a hospital?
Why thank the UDP?
yep…another soon come update with more delayed start/completion dates…..
early 2014 won't happen either btw…….
How many of the 200 people will be Caymanian? The same old story will apply, Caymanians are not qualified. If Gene and Shetty have so much money, why not find some willing Caymanians (not paper Caymanians or Cabinet approved pay-offs) and start training them now so that when the hospital is ready they have at least a few Caymanians?
invest in our people not just yourselves. How far down the line will that 7-8M trickle. Something tells me we will still have a lot of good Caymanains holding out their hands and getting nothing. Never in my life, have I had to see Caymanians swallow their pride and take crumbs from a selected rich "few" or from Social Services. What has happened to our country? what will become of my people in five years?
We're spoon fed as Caymanians – we can take the initiative to get a scholarship and educated seeing that this opportunity is upon us… there is no need for anyone go out of their way to find people to train, if they needed to be sought out to train, the will inevitably have poor work ethic and he is opening a hospital, not a school.
We're too proud. We want to do what we want, when we want, for the price we think we deserve – if Caymanians are qualified, they will be hired. Cayman should have a negative unemployment rate but we're too stubborn and like to blame the options we create for ourselved on the expats who are better qualified. This is what is happening to our country – no ownership of our actions, our desire to succeed and acceptance of hard work.
I am writing this as someone who worked hard to get a scholarship, go off to school and learn about something I don't even like but guess what? I had 4 job offers upon my arrival and I have a steady job, simple.
Does any of this matter in relation to this article? He is injecting the ecomony with money and attracting vistors who will spend money here – money that Caymanians are not spending. Relax on the defensive front.
Well said.
Great post!! I've been saying the same thing for a long time now.
Speak for yourself..you obviously were born with a silver spoon in oyour mouth. I am talking about our youth and getting them college educated. We have given this man 100 years of concessions and we in turn should benefit in some way from it. Our children are not given the opportunity to get higher education because the middle class is shrinking fast and parents can barely get by with the high cost of living that this island now brings.
What would be wrong with him say that he would take $1milllion each month of the 7-8million that he purports will be injected into the economy and set up a fund administer by an unbiased group for full time college tuition for every school leaver coming out of Government High school. Of course put qualifications on them such as good attendance, good grades and attitude whilst in high shool as well as college to qualify but at least give them the opportunity.
Mckeeva will give Dr. Shetty status prior to him leaving as premier so if Shetty wants to be a good Caymanian and reinvest in the Cayman people, here is a good opportunity to start and let's start with the next graduating class..
Gene…I hope you are reading this….Doing something like this would have warmed your Dad's heart…He is still watching over you!
Spoon fed as Caymanians you are so right, this is exactly why expats who have now become Caymanians for over 7 years should be allowed to run for elections because there are very few Caymanian politicians who are experienced and educated enough to negotiatewhat is best for the Cayman Islands. On the other hand I know of many people in the financial industry and legal profession that would qualify and give these islands stellar representation. I do believe this is one area that should be challenged now that we have a HRC.
Are Caymanians qualified for any jobs in Cayman??? oh yeah I forgot bank tellers!
I do not want a lot of good Caymanains holding out their hands and getting nothing.
I want to see good Caymanians recognizing the opportunity this project offers and enrolling in classes to gain the necessary qualifications for the kinds of jobs this hospital will offer.
I want to see good Caymanians sweating in the sun to build this hospital and earn an honest living they can be proud of.
I want to see good Caymanians think about new businesses they could start to take advantgage of the ancillary economic opportunities that will arise from this development.
I want to see good Caymanians working to improve the economy of these islands rather than waiting with hands outstretched. Be proactive and step up to help yourself, your family, and our country.
How about this, those of us Caymanians who want to be a nurse or whatever, go an get qualified?!!!
Hell, I wasn't waiting around for someone to fall out of the sky and swoop me up to train me. I got off my rumpus and applied for scholarships, borrowed money and what have you to go and get my education.
It is your responsibility to get the skills, not anyone else. So please stop expecting someone to carry you.
Six generation Caymanian.
you grew up in a different time my friend..try doing those things now..good luck in even trying to borrow money..that is unless youu have a rich Uncle Gene out there!
"…a lot of good caymanians holding out their hands…". You hit the nail on the head there Pal
Yes they will all be Caymanians..Status grants will flow..Mark my words this is just the start of it..Before the UDP leaves office(for good thankfully) you will see widespread grants for doctors, nurses..you name it ..so yes we will have Caymanians doing the work just not the real Caymanians..
Money talks my friends…money talks!!!
For 25 years I have seen the same old story bein played out and Caymanians lap it up in every instance. When are we going to learn?
zzzzz where oh where are we getting these numbers?
this project was never tenedere either, no EIA, no analysis (this was promised tobe shared but has never materialised)…
the concessions given to Shetty are too extensive and total US$1Billion on concessions — where is the value assessment for the people of the Cayman Islands?
Just because a developer knows the UDP is so DESPERATE for any project (so they can have something to brag about for reelection) – does not mean a good business deal for the country!
there has been no proper assessment or analysis of the Shetty deal for the massive concessions granted or the 100 year monopoly given away!
NO!
"this project was never tenedere either,"
I suppose you mean tendered? Why would a privately built project be put out for public tender? If Shetty is paying the bills then he should decide what is value for his money.
The points about a EIA and where the concessions granted by government are fine points. Whether government is getting value for the concessions granted is a valid issue. But government does not have to directly pay the bills to build the project and thus does not get to put it out to tender.
But what good will to it do for Caymanians? I fail to see how this massive short term injection of spending and the long term prospect of a increase in the Cayman economy can possibly help Caymanians. I would rather we said "No" to this and preserve the oligopolisitc profits of the Tomlinsons, after all local health care costs are far too low.
No worries..cabinet will approve status for all of them and they will be Caymanians
Sarcasm. Never been able to get it have you?
Bejeeezus…. you guys love to moan!!
Well, for those willing to put some effort in, it will be a golden opportunity to work hard and earn some money, train in a new area, get some qualifications and earn a wage and have a solid career. For those who want to sit back, and expect it all to fall into their laps, you are likely to be dissappointed.
We need a sarcasm font or emoticon on this site. Sometimes it's hard to tell the sarcasm from the unintended irony.