Archive for February, 2014
Shetty hospital officially open
(CNS) Updated: Dr Shetty announced that the first patient at Health City Cayman Islands will be treated at the hospital on 10 March, as hundreds of people crowded into a massive marquee in front of the new facility in East End Tuesday morning to watch the official opening of what is billed as the launch of Cayman's third economic pillar. The idea of medical tourism is one that has been discussed in the Cayman Islands for decades but the opening of Health City, will be seen as the moment the idea began a reality, according to Mark Scotland, the former health minister who steered the project in its early days. Scotland was one of a dozen speakers that appeared on the podium to celebrate the opening of the much anticipated 140-bed tertiary care facility.
Speaking to the media after the opening ceremony, Gene Thompson, the local partner in the venture, said that the first pateint has not yet been identified but would likely be a paying customer. However, they would be treating as many non-paying charitable patients as possible. He said the goal is for the facility to reach 20% patient capacity within the first six months.
Ninety-four staff have already been hired for the hosptial, almost all of them seconded from Dr Shetty's hosptal in Bangalore, India, and 35 of whom are already on island. Staff will include 19 doctors who are expereinced in the specialties that will be offered at the hospital as well as 38 nurses. Thompson said that 40 to 42 Caymanians would also be hired as support staff.
With the continued goal of ultimately having a 2,000-bed hospital, Thompson said the build out would depend on growth. Patients are expected to come from the Caribbean, the US and the region, he said, though the numbers are as yet unknown. While the project is in the initial stage funded by shareholders, the goal is for the hospital to be economically sustainable within six months.
Tuesday provided an opportunity for all of those involved in the development of the project from inception to opening to celebrate what is a significant achievement.
Check back to CNS later today for more coverage from the opening of the hospital and the promised start of the local economy's much anticipated third pillar.
LIME CEO says customer service must improve
(CNS Business): LIME Cayman Islands needs to provide significant improvement in the area of customer service, the new CEO, Bill McCabe told CNS Business in this week's video interview. He said it was clear that the company had some great infrastructure and great networks in place but "the whole customer service area" needs improving. They have already begun to make changes, he said, so that when customers in Cayman phone the call centre they now get through far quicker than they did even two months ago. The call centre is based off-island because that means greater efficiencies for LIME but people complain that the customer service staff "don't know what it's like to be in Cayman" and they get frustrated when they call. Read more on CNS Business
Government spends $60k on new GT loos
(CNS): The tourism ministry is investing sixty thousand dollars of this year’s budget to help out tourists who get caught short while visiting the capital. Government officials revealed Monday that the ministry is in the process of providing “much needed relief to visitors and shoppers” in downtown George Town with the development of permanent public restrooms. The new 288 Square foot public facilities which are under construction behind the GT library, adjacent to the bus depot, will provide separate male and female loos with wheelchair access.
On 20 February, tourism counsellor Joseph Hew, who was acting as tourism minister in the absence of the Deputy Premier, Moses Kirkconnell who was at a tourism conference, visited the site to evaluate the progress.
“Public rest rooms are a basic amenity that have been conspicuously absent from the George Town area for many years and I am pleased that is now being rectified,” Hew said. “The new facilities are centrally located in a part of town that receives a great deal of pedestrian traffic and will therefore be a welcomed addition to the area. On busy cruise ship days in particular, passengers will be able to continue shopping and enjoying the sights, rather than having to return to the North or South Terminals when nature calls. ”
Caystar Construction was awarded the building contract following an open tender process which concluded in December. Construction is expected to be completed in June 2014 at a cost of $60,000 which is budgeted for in FY2013/14.
Troubled youth treatment centre eyes Cayman
(CNS): A Canadian couple whose unlicensed youth treatment centre was shut down by the authorities in British Columbia may be seeking to set up a new rehabilitation centre for troubled youngsters in the Cayman Islands. However, it is unlikely to solve any of Cayman’s young offender problems. David (left) and Susan Kenney are facing at least four law suits from different families who say their children were bullied, abused and mistreated while in the care of the couple at the NeurVana Recovery and Wellness centre, which charged thousands of dollars a week to treat the young people placed there.
The centre advertised the use of advanced neuro-technology to "harmonize the brains" of the youths it treats for a range of problems from self harming to drug misuse.
Reports from Canada suggest the Kenneys, who have relatives in Cayman according to local sources, are now attempting to create a new centre here by the spring despite having had their Canadian centre closed down the legal difficulties over the law suits. The legal action taken by the families involved allege various incidences of abuse, breach of contract, fraud and negligence at the former residential treatment facility which was located in Kelowna. From forcing vegetarians to eat meat to withholding medication from teen patients the law suits accuse the couple of numerous types of abuse and bullying none of which has yet been proven.
Concerns were raised by the families through their lawyers that the couple had not only left Canada in the face of the allegations and the sudden closure of the facility but were attempting to start the same kind of centre somewhere else.
The Kenneys, who say they have worked with children in various places for 20 years have via their attorney denied all of the allegations.
Cop corruption trial re-opens
(CNS): A police officer accused of blackmailing a potential suspect in a stolen phone case returned to the dock Monday to face trial once again more than eight months after his first trial was adjourned as a result of legal problems and potential prejudice. Elvis Ebanks is accused of taking a bribe from a Filipino national in exchange for not arresting him in connection with the possible theft of a cell phone. As the case reopened, Ebanks once again heard his accuser, via an interpreter, tell the court and a jury that the police officer had asked him for over $500 not to pursue a case of theft against him.
Len Ferraris, who gave evidence against the officer, claimed he had found the cell phone on a bench when he was visiting the Auto-spa car wash in Red Bay, George Town. He put the red Blackberry phone in his pocket and then three days later, when he had cracked the pass code, he put his own SIM card into the handset. Once he did that and began using the phone the owner of the handset managed to trace it. Following a meeting at the Auto-Spa between the owner, the police officer on trial and Ferraris, who handed the phone back, the owner said he did not wish to take the case any further.
With the phone returned to its rightful owner, Ebanks was then tasked with taking Ferraris home. But the court heard that it was during this journey that he allegedly threatened the Filipino national with ten years in jail over the stolen phone and asked for money. Denying he had stolen the phone and insisting he had found it, Ferraris told the court he was scared. With only a few dollars on him at the time, Ferraris, who believed he was looking at a decade behind bars, agreed to try and find the $500 that he says Ebanks wanted and told him he would have the cash by Wednesday.
Although Ferraris told the court that the police officer ordered him to remain quiet about the money, the man, who was working as a janitor at the time earning just CI$700 per month, told family members, who in turn contacted the police. The RCIPS then recorded phone conversations between Ferraris and Ebanks and organised to be at the meeting where the cash exchange eventually took place at Countryside Shopping Centre in Savannah. Shortly after Ebanks was arrested and later charged with bribery and breach of public trust.
Ebanks denied the allegations, stating that the man had offered a legitimate loan.
Following the evidence in chief Ferraris was cross examined by Ebanks’ defence attorney ,Amelia Fosuhene from Stenning & Associates, who pressed Ferraris to admit he had stolen the phone in the first place and highlighted a number of inconsistencies with his testimony.
Struggling to cross examine through an interpreter, the attorney questioned Ferraris about his status on the island and he admitted that although he had a work permit with the company he was working for as a janitor, he had also been working on the side at the auto-spa without a permit.
The trial continues Tuesday in court one before a jury and visiting judge Justice Swift.
Shetty partners’ charity status in question
(CNS): On the eve of the much anticipated opening of the Cayman Islands Health city in East End news reports from the United States reveal that the Catholic health care provider and Dr Devi Shetty’s partner in the venture, Ascension Health is facing questions about its charitable status in that country. The hospital charity’s partnership with Shetty and the Narayana Health group in Cayman is not the only for profit venture that it is involved with. The Catholic health group and is America’s third-largest health care system earning some $17 billion in revenue in the 2013 fiscal year with some $30 billion in assets.
Despite these earnings and assets, according to reports in the United States the group has retained its charitable status and does not pay taxes.
John Colombo, a University of Illinois law professor who studies tax-exempt organizations has questioned the charitable status of the St Louis based health firm. "Why is this organization charitable? In my view, it's not," he said John Colombo. "They provide health services for the poor, but it's not their primary mission anymore … Ascension has transformed itself over time to a major big business enterprise. I'm not denying that they do some charitable things, but so does Microsoft — and they pay taxes."
According to John D. Doyle, an Ascension executive vice president the company provided $525 million in charity care to the poor last year as well as $775 million in community benefits to the general public.
"As a tax-exempt organization, Ascension acts for the public good," he said. "We are a faith-based ministry that's trying hard every day to make sure we have the resources to take care of people."
Ascension Health Ministries is a corporation within the Roman Catholic Church that reports to the Vatican on its key transactions and must adhere to church directives such as the prohibition on abortions. It's affiliated with a religious order called the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, which created schools for orphans and hospitals for the poor.
The organisation is working with Shetty and at the time of the deal’s announcement officials from the Health city said the Ascension group will handle purchasing, facilities management and biomedical engineering services at the new hospital, while Dr Shetty’s group will provide technical input and run the facility. It was also stated that Ascension would also be supplying medical staff for the facility.
The official opening of the first phase of the project a 140 bed hospital is scheduled for Tuesday 25 February at 9am.
BT meets GT in local football final next week
(CNS): The Ash Wednesday football finals will see Bodden Town and George Town battling it out for the 2014 Presidents Cup. With an emphatic 3-0 victory over Elite Sports Club in the second leg of the semi-finals following their 2-0 defeat to the club in the first round, George Town carried through with a 3-2 aggregate to book their place in the final. Meanwhile, Bodden Town’s Theron Wood’s 53rd minute goal stopped Sunset’s challenge in Sunday’s game which ended in a one all draw, allowing Bodden Town to squeeze through with a 2-1 aggregate advantage for their spot in the big match.
The final sees the two current leading teams form Cayman's Premier League face to face at 7pm Wednesday evening for the Ash Wednesday traditional game at the T.E Mcfield Sports Complex.
Cops charge 45 year old man for mystery burglary
(CNS): Police have arrested and charged a 45-year-old man in connection with a George Town burglary which reportedly occurred on 16 February at a downtown George Town business. The unnamed man was expected to appear in Summary Court Tuesday to answer the charges, police said, but were unable to disclose the location of the premises that the man is accused of breaking into. An RCIPS spokesperson said the owners were overseas and unable to give authority for the release of the name of the business.
UK toddler suffers savage attack by pit bull terrier
(The Telegraph): A judge has demanded “urgent reform” of the Dangerous Dogs Act after hearing how a pit bull terrier maimed a four-year-old girl in the street. Sentencing the dog’s owner to just over two years in jail for the mauling which left the youngster scarred for life, Judge Peter Clarke QC said the case highlighted the need for tougher sentences against those who keep fighting dogs. “This case has demonstrated that the maximum sentence for this kind of offence is in urgent need of reform,” the judge told Blackfriars Crown Court, as the family of victim Carla Cutler looked on. “When a small child can be attacked in this way even without the owner wanting it to happen – given the harm that was caused to Carla I feel I was constrained in this case by the maximum sentence set by Parliament.”
The maximum sentence for being in charge of a dog which causes injury while dangerously out of control in a public place, under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, is just two years.
Jamaica plans to decriminalise ganja this year
(CNS): The leader of government business in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, Phillip Paulwell, has indicated that the decriminalisation of ganja is on the parliamentary agenda for the upcoming legislative year. Although Cayman’s neighbour is not legalising the recreational use of weed, unlike politicians here the legislators are talking about the issue and plan to move on medical uses. Having met with the Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Taskforce (CCMRT), Paulwell has told them that the motion for the decriminalisation of small amounts of marijuana will be enacted sometime this year.
According to reports in The Gleaner, Paulwell said, "It is my view that decriminalisation of the weed will become a reality this year, arising from the parliamentary debate and the support by the majority of the members, I believe it will be approved this year."
Although he emphasised that ganja would not be legalised for recreational use, he said this did not stop the country from using it for medicinal or scientific purposes and it was within Jamaica's supreme rights to decriminalise marijuana.
"We are not speaking about legalisation; we are speaking about decriminalisation and I think it is in our remit and within our sovereignty, based on what is happening in the United States to do so in relation to decriminalisation," he said. "Legalisation is another matter."
Delano Seiveright of the CCMRT said this was a major game change in the discourse on ganja law reform.
"We have seen where many places north and south of Jamaica have been relaxing their laws as they clearly see the tremendous advantages," he said. "Jamaica of all places should move to make changes sooner rather than later."
Meanwhile, here in Cayman local politicians have refused to even answer enquiries about their position on the issue and the health minister has made it clear that his ministry is not even discussing the matter, despite the growing body of evidence regarding the herb’s healing powers for a number of serious and life threatening conditions, from cancer to epilepsy. Cayman still has some of the most draconian laws in the west regarding the use of ganja, with people criminalised not just for possession but consumption as well.
However, the strict legislation has done nothing to reduce the use of ganja in the community and in particular within the prison walls, where, despite claims of a crackdown, the drug is still used commonly by prisoners and where no prisoner appears to be given assistance over any drug dependency issues.