(CNS): Government officials and Dart executives were out in force Thursday morning for the official ‘golden shovel’ moment when Health City Cayman Islands, the hospital founded by world-renowned Indian heart surgeon, Devi Shetty, broke ground on a new facility south of Camana Bay. The new 70,000 sqft state-of-the-art hospital will be built on three acres of land.
It will be kicked off with the radiology unit, which is being constructed by Arch & Godfrey. The whole facility will cost around US$100 million and will provide several medical specialties not currently available here, including neonatal intensive care.
It will also feature a cancer care centre with advanced oncology as well as an emergency pavilion and a multi-specialty programme that includes robotic surgery.
Dr Shetty was not at the event but sent a video message to the celebrations, where he spoke about creating an advanced facility for cancer care, heart care, neonatal care and organ transplant for the entire Caribbean region.
“Our goal is to solidify the Cayman Islands as the best medical destination in the entire Western Hemisphere,” he said, reminding everyone that while the hospital is still dependent on local patients, it was established originally as a medical tourism facility.
The project is expected to take up to 18 months to complete but radiotherapy services will be available within nine months of the groundbreaking, officials said. Once it is complete, the hospital will be offering some exclusive and very specialised services.
“We will be the first in the region to offer bone marrow transplantation and CAR-T Cell therapy,” said HCCI Clinical Director Dr Binoy Chattuparambil. “Our technology and services will mean we can provide effective, precise and less invasive cancer treatments.”
The hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit will be the only of its kind in the Caribbean, where NICU specialists will work closely with other specialists, who will all be available to consult on-site as well as with the high-quality unit at the Health Services Authority (HSA) to ensure no patient requiring neonatal care will be forced to go overseas to get this specialist treatment.
“Neonatal care is a team effort and requires all specialties working together and caring for patients,” Dr Chattuparambil said, as he explained the benefits for families here. “This holistic approach will put us in the fortunate position of being able to deliver the best potential outcomes for the highest-risk newborns.
“For Cayman and Caribbean families this often means parents and babies are separated because one is in the US caring for a baby while the other is at home working and looking after the rest of the family. Our specialised NICU will mean babies and families can stay together, at home, and focus on what is most important – positive outcomes for these newborns.”
Health City said all existing major gaps in medical care will be covered by the new hospital.
“I appreciate the services to the healthcare system that this new hospital will offer,” Health Minister Sabrina Turner said in a press release about the new hospital. “It is envisaged that this new facility will help to further enhance our medical offerings and will be an asset to this and future generations of Caymanians, residents and visitors.”
Jackie Doak, representing the Dart Group, which has leased the land to Health City, welcomed the start of the project. While the hospital will be of significant benefit to local residents for obvious health care reasons, it will also be of great benefit to the islands’ wealthiest developer’s town, Camana Bay, and an anchor establishment for the new airport connector road expected to open next year. This will no doubt help to attract more tenants to Dart’s ever-expanding local empire.
Doak described it as “another chapter in Camana Bay’s story”.
The decision to locate the hospital close to Camana Bay was deliberate because, despite the success of the East End facility, the location has hindered further development of what was meant to be a much bigger project. HCCI Chief Business Officer Shomari Scott, who acted as MC for the groundbreaking event, said the new hospital is close to where most people live and work.
Share your vote!No, thanks.
Comments (97)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
- says:01/02/2022 at 8:44 am
🤔 🤨I am baffled that people, in Cayman have zero concern about radiation ☠️ safety and absence ofLaws and Regulation, while cancer rates are growing. The Auditor General report in the provided link includes cancer statistics in Cayman and it doesn’t look good.
Reply - says:30/01/2022 at 9:17 am
❓Question to the Governor:
Why building a hospital that will generate enormous amount of liquid, gaseous and other radioactive and biomedical waste was given a green light in the absence of radioactive and biomedical hazardous waste management regulations?
I believe such matters fall under his jurisdiction for local government has no expertise and capabilities or even understands that having radioactive ☢️ material in medical facilities requires regulations, control, monitoring, inspection and enforcement.
The Governor must know there are international safety standards for Radioactive Waste Disposal issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Why there were never a radioactive safety inspection in the Cayman Islands?
All medical facilities offering x-rays, CAT scans, PET scans use radioactive material which they muster dispose in accordance with International standards.
New Cancer Treatment Facility will have a radiology unit- the volume of radioactive waste will increase exponentially. Hospital personnel and visitors will have risk of exposure if safety measures not followed.
Why there’s no oversight from the Governor and the UK relevant agencies in the UK? Every single resident in the Cayman Islands could be potentially exposed to radiation without ever knowing that.
Lastly, what is going to happen to the Health City patients when the Dump catches fire again? This question is to the Governor, not CIG, for the latter not just incompetent to answer, they never even thought about such a scenario.
Reply - says:30/01/2022 at 3:38 am
They could save 100 million and just put the hospital in the Scotia Bank footprint. Because they (Scotia) 100% aren’t doing any banking there.
Reply - says:29/01/2022 at 2:02 am
Getting a cancer diagnosis is an unimaginably stressful time. Tests, scans, appointments, treatment plans.. and that’s just the logistics. Then there’s the emotional stuff – telling my family and friends, telling my employer, getting my head around my own mortality.. then there’s the money worries – will I be able to work still, will I be able to afford treatment, what will my insurance cover. All of the above is largely an ugly, unavoidable truth. Imagine on top of that, having to fly to the US, often with flights not covered by insurance, to see a cancer specialist. Going back and forth for tests. Staying in a hotel. Not being able to afford for someone to come with you for emotional support, so going through all of it alone. For anyone in this situation, or trying to support someone in this situation, cancer diagnostics, treatment and access to specialists on island is an unbelievable plus. To take just a few of the stresses and worries off the shoulders will be the biggest help for people going through the worst time of their life. To all those complaining – by all means discuss the practicalities of this project, but do not, ever, forget about the human element and the lives that this will improve immeasurably, and ultimately save.
Reply - says:29/01/2022 at 1:21 am
Until now I did not know it was possible, to have too many Hospitals!
Reply - says:01/02/2022 at 8:54 am
See Appendix 11: The Cayman Islands Healthcare Force in the The Auditor General Report-see 2:50pm for the link
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 3:46 pm
Wow, they really are worried about the proposed new MedCity hospital in WestBay. . .$100M worried!
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 2:46 pm
How does discount elective surgery, and bargain-basement health tourism, square with the high-end tourism mantra, on an island with the highest cost of living in the Caribbean/Latin America?Get out your calculators.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 11:37 am
Zero commitment to provide scholarships for Caymanian Medical students.Offering an internship during summer break is not good enough.
No private sector hospital group provides this. Only CIG currently fund medical education.
Reply - says:31/01/2022 at 4:28 pm
Please explain the often seen #Leggewasright.If your point that whatever this is, is important, I truly would like to know it’s meaning.
Reply - says:30/01/2022 at 10:24 am
5.58pm Why do all the major law firms, accounting firms and banks (but not the big Caymanian owned businesses) all sponsor so many scholarships?.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 11:16 am
I don’t like the GT hospital last year I spent one week. I asked everyday what was wrong with me and all they said was my blood pressure was very high,really? What caused my BP to go exceedingly high? Finally it went down to 165 and they said I could go home. No Indians. I went to Dr. Mohanti to find out what went wrong he looked up on a computer my record by GT hospital and they found out I had a rare disease and NEVER told me,why? This year I spent 10 days at Hospital City and they found all kinds of stuff. I’ve got sleep apnea, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity. Checking on my lungs to check on COPD as soon as there is a break in the COVID patients. Everything is getting resolved slowly because I’m doing the treatment which include exercise,dieting,oxygen at night and medicines. Big difference? I had all these problems for years I took tests including cat scans last year. What happen? You tell me.In conclusion has anybody else had problems in GT?So I am definitely in favor of Health City’s new hospital in Camana Bay. Miller,D
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 10:55 am
So many negative trolls on here.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 10:02 am
Does this facility have the same indemnity granted to the original Health City that was supposed to service non resident patients only?Will the staff be on special work permits that do not require certification by the Health Practitioners Board?This is just CIG creating two tier healthcare.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 9:59 am
Wonderful to have new medical facilities, but as a pensioner I won’t be able to afford it.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 9:56 am
A cancer centre right next to the dump. Now that is supply and demand!
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 9:49 am
our ‘finacial services’ come in many shapes and forms….
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 8:53 am
I’m all for this! Now let’s build that waste management facility and get rid of the dump. Not very fitting to have a hospital next to a mountain of pollution.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 8:21 am
Before Health City, people complained (and still do) about poor service lack of specialty doctors at our Government Hospital and having to go abroad for certain conditions. Now that we are getting better facilities, doctors and reducing the need to go abroad, people complaining that we have too many. It must be good for their health to complain, complain, complain I guess.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 8:30 am
Why so many sick people in the Cayman Islands, aka Paradise, is the #1 question.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 8:32 am
Cheapest, old dogma fast-food healthcare is not the same as premium innovative healthcare.Two very different markets, for different clientele.We keep hearing that we want to go high end, and then strike a sweetheart deal with Dr Discount Procedure.
Reply - says:29/01/2022 at 6:10 pm
Agreed, some people are only happy when they have something to moan about.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 8:16 am
Great news.You don’t realize what hardships people who need treatment overseas go through when they have to travel overseas for long periods of time. Its so much easier to do your treatment and go home.Health City already provides excellent care but to be able to do all cancer treatmentsin Cayman will be a plus for anyone with cancer.
Reply - says:30/01/2022 at 10:29 am
8.16am Absolutely no hardship for civil servants overseas, free flights, free hotels, free treatment and time for shopping for spouses.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 6:56 am
It is backwards.Toxic environment, in most cases,causes cancer and congenital abnormalities. Yet only teenagers seem to care about Cayman environment and their future.Everybody else, including CIG, only worry about Covid.Turning what used to be real Paradise into a wasteland of concrete building and Cancer Hospitals. Madness.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 5:29 am
Will never complain about having more hospitals.
Picture in the compass is pretty funny though with all these fools lined up, disguised by their masks (outside in the fresh air no less) and hard hats (on a cleared lot).Great example of the critical thinking this pact of clowns follows.
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 11:39 pm
All those commenting negatively feel free to fly to the US for cancer treatment. We will wave you off at the airport!
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 7:49 pm
By 2030 you’ll have more hospitals than banks.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 10:45 am
And health insurance payments will still not be reduced.
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 6:51 pm
Grand Cayman is already suffocating in household, commercial, construction, demolition and biomedical waste. Lots of existing medical facilities already generate radioactive waste.
Every project of such magnitude and complexity that presents environmental hazard for the territory and its people MUST START with the new or renewed regulations and actual construction of the specialised waste disposal facility in compliance with the regulations.
New Health City hospital is going to generate lots of radioactive and biomedical waste.
Radioactive waste must be collected in suitably designed and labeled containers and then buried in exclusive burial sites approved by the competent authority.
I believe Cayman has no regulations, expertise, equipment, medical waste collection service, disposal facilities and certified professionals to deal with radioactive waste that will be generated by the new hospitals in addition to the waste generated by existing medical facilities.I believe there are no exclusive burial sites in Cayman, let alone approved by the competent authority.
I also believe there were not a single article on the how and according with which regulations radioactive and biomedical waste in Cayman is disposed.
I have no idea what Heath City is doing with its radioactive waste, but they have their own incinerator where they burns biomedical waste. Has it ever been inspected by the competent authorities? Is it being regularly monitored for incineration byproducts not exceeding the set limits and by whom? The answer is No. The Cayman Islands remains in the Stone Age when it comes the above mentioned biohazardous waste disposal✳️, therefore proceeding with another facility is a crime against all the people who reside and visit the territory.
What CIG is doing to prevent an environmental catastrophe due to medical waste?
Recent headlines:Untreated biomedical waste dumped at Brac landfillMinistry of Health to investigate medical waste on beachesBeach medical waste subject of investigation
https://cnslocallife.com/2018/09/emissions-incinerators/✳️“ While the DEH has provisions in place to monitor the construction and operation of incinerators, the official explained that the regulations do not include the “guidelines indicating what pollutants one should test for” [🤦♀️]. In addition, the DEH does not have the “necessary equipment to allow for adequate monitoring of such emissions at this time”.As for when the DEH will be able to test for these emissions, “It is hoped that (the department) will be able to do so in the foreseeable future.” MIND BOGGLING!
Link to the outdated Public Health (Infectious Waste) Regulations (2002 Revision). https://cnslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/Public-Health-Infectious-Waste-Regulations-2002-Revision.pdf
Appears Radioactive and Biomedical waste regulations don’t exist in the Cayman Islands.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 6:38 pm
Everybody wins
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 6:04 pm
Where do all the patients go when their dump catches on fire?
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 5:38 pm
Cue the usual CNS commenters to find fault in this development and start complaining….I’m waiting…..
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 5:01 pm
Healthcare institutions generate enormous amount of waste which is considered as potentially hazardous in view of the inherent potential for dissemination of infection. Hospitals generate on an average, between 0.5 and two kilograms of waste per bed per day
Most of the tertiary care hospitals use radioisotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Safe disposal of the radioactive waste is a vital component of the overall management of the hospital waste.
Most of the radioactive waste is liquid, with lesser amount of solid and minimal gaseous. The solid waste containing traces of radioactivity is in the form of syringes, needles, cotton swabs, vials, contaminated gloves and absorbent materials. Clothing and utensils of patients administered high doses of radioisotopes like I-131 constitute the solid radioactive waste material.
Safe disposal of unused radioactive material and objects contaminated with it is a vital component of the overall strategy of hospital waste management. The fundamental objective of safe disposal of radioactive waste is to ensure that the radiation exposure to public, radiation workers and environment does not exceed the prescribed safe limits.
Did Cayman City strategy of hospital(s), both current and the new one, waste management was reviewed and approved by the regulating authorities?
Regular personal monitoring of hospital radiation workers, area monitoring of hospital environment and quality control of the radiation instruments is mandatory to asses the quality of existing radiation safety standards.
Who is the Radiation Safety Officer at Health City who oversees all aspects of radiation safety including radioactive waste management? Does he coordinate such measures in accordance with guidelines prescribed by the International Commission on Radiation Protection and the Cayman Islands regulatory body?
What safe levels of environmental radiation and personal radiation exposure of workersare and who monitors the compliance?
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 4:38 pm
Cayman needs another hospital as a dog needs a 5th leg.
The more toxic☠️ environment of the Cayman Islands=>the more residents get cancer=>the more hospitals to treat cancer needed=>the more cancer treating hospitals built=>the more toxic, radioactive, pharmaceutical waste cancer hospitals generate=> the more toxic biomedical waste disposed improperly and incinerated=>the more people get cancer.
add
biomedical waste generated by other hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, laboratories, funeral homes, dentists, veterinarians, physicians, pharmacies , body piercing salons, tattoo shops etc
add
biomedical waste generated by individuals in their own homes
add
hundred thousands of face masks, Covid testing waste, nasal testing swabs, testing result containers, any personal protecting equipment (gloves, gowns) that has blood, or bodily fluids with visible blood, used syringes, needles, and empty vaccine vials, vialtrays, remaining doses of vaccine etc.
All the above in the ABSENSE of biomedical waste disposal regulations, qualified and experienced professionals to supervise, monitor, CONTROL and enforce rules and regulations (which don’t exist) and equipment to properly dispose biomedical waste.
https://caymannewsservice.com/2021/02/concern-over-disposal-of-medical-waste/
“Ministry silent over bio-waste dumping” https://caymannewsservice.com/2018/05/ministry-silent-over-bio-waste-dumping/CNS, it has been 5 years already, have they responded yet?
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 4:32 pm
“which has leased the land to Health City”. Dart buys land! Caymanians should take heed, LEASE our land!
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 3:48 pm
It would be nice if proposed developments from other developers happened this quickly. Years have passed and still nothing, just press releases.
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 3:40 pm
I mean it’s pretty cool but we’re definitely gonna need the cancer center considering the dump is nearby.
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 3:20 pm
We will have 5 large health facilities soon which will keep persons alive and drain their insurance/finances, but will we ever have the right to die with dignity, on our own terms?
Reply - says:27/01/2022 at 3:13 pm
More Indian staff therefore:more WP fees collected …more private school fees billed …more rent collected …more CUC billing …more WA billing…more Lime/Digicel billing …more spent at Foster/Kirks/Hurleys …more spent at all restaurants …more spent on personal grooming services (hair/nails/massage/barber/spas etc.) …more domestics employedmore spent at liquor stores/bars/cigar clubs …more spent at all stores/business/ service providers …
More money in circulation … better for Cayman
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 10:25 am
3.13pm This applies to all expat businesses but they were not set up on false premises.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 10:31 am
These are your assumptions.They have their own residential buildings and probably a store or two.
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 3:56 pm
‘more spent at liquor stores/bars/cigar clubs’ – don’t think so!
Reply - says:28/01/2022 at 6:34 pm
More inflation and costs for everyone
Roll up, roll up everyone’s a winner
Reply
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
« Saunders defends PACT’s fiscal policyOmbudsman sees 50% increase in data breaches »
