Medical Tourism Deal Sealed
Dr. Devi Shetty (centre) is flanked by Minister of Health, Hon Mark Scotland and Premier Hon McKeeva Bush. (Photos by Lennon Christian, GIS)
Excitement seemed to crackle among the words of Premier McKeeva Bush as he announced at a press conference Wednesday, 7 April, that the Cayman Islands Government has entered into an agreement with renowned surgeon, Dr Devi Shetty of India, to build a major medical facility here.
“This development will bring a third leg to our economy,” said Mr Bush. “What we have signed here today is the start of something new,” comparing it to the launch of the financial services industry in the 1960s that transformed the Cayman economy.
Dr Shetty, chairman of the Narayana Hrudayalaya group of hospitals in Bangalore, India, revolutionised medical care in that country by implementing business practices that resulted in high-quality, yet cost-effective care at state-of-the-art facilities.
Over the next decade, he plans to recreate a similar “health city” and medical university here that also will “revolutionize” tertiary health care in the Western hemisphere, providing medical procedures at half the cost of US facilities.
The cost-effectiveness of his methods is not from “cutting corners,” he said, but by increasing the output of each doctor, which also increases their skills. The outcomes from his hospitals, therefore, are superior to many US hospitals, which also bear artificially inflated costs. The cardiac surgeon expects, as a result, to draw the majority of his patients to Cayman from the US.
The first phase of the project, expected to begin in January 2011, will be to construct a 200-bed facility employing from 600 to 800 people, of which about 160 will be Caymanian. As the project develops, eventually accommodating a 2,000-bed facility on 500 acres, the proportion of Caymanians employed will be higher. Long term, Dr Shetty expects the staff of physicians to be trained in the Cayman Islands at the medical university that also will be built here, and the entire hospital staff to be local.
The medical tourism industry is big business with $4.5 trillion spent worldwide on health care annually, said Dr Shetty, more than half of which is spent in the US. Recognizing the potential impact on local economies, many countries in this region had “courted” Dr Shetty’s group, who settled on the Cayman Islands due to its “political stability,” as well as proximity to the US. It also is a pleasant place to live, which makes it easier to attract highly qualified surgeons, he added.
Concessions made by the Cayman government to attract the facility included waivers of certain work permit fees and duties imposed on the medical equipment, according to the Premier, which he considered “necessary” considering the size of the investment.
Dr Shetty signed the agreement during the press conference with senior government ministers present, including Minister of Health Mark Scotland, who assured the gathering that the planned facility would “complement, not replace” primary health care facilities already in Cayman.
After six months of negotiations, representing “a significant investment by Dr. Shetty and his group,” said Mr Scotland, “the potential economic benefits are immense, and social benefits are significant as well.” Dr Shetty and his partner investors have personally inspected several potential sites, he said, but the final location of the proposed facility has not yet been decided.
