Above: Health City Cayman Islands

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A major new healthcare project has opened its doors on the East End of Grand Cayman.

Health City Cayman Islands was officially inaugurated by project partners Dr Devi Shetty and Dr Anthony Tersigni and Cayman Islands Premier Alden McLaughlin on Tuesday morning.

“This occasion today, I believe, is one of those transformative moments for Cayman, as was the case when the first seaplane landed in the north sound in the 40s, as was the case when we passed the first banks and trusts companies law in 1966, as was the case when Benson Greenall built the first hotel on Seven Mile Beach in the late 50s,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said the financial crisis had demonstrated that Cayman could no longer rely on tourism and fianncial services alone, and that developing a healthcare industry and a medical tourism sector could have a significant impact on employment.

The 140-bed hospital is the first phase of what is anticipated to be a significant healthcare complex, with the initial phase costing around $70 million.

When the final project is completed, it is projected to house more than 2,000 beds.

For now, the 107,000-square-foot facility will provide health services like heart surgeries, pediatrics and orthopedics.

The wider project could eventually see the development of a hotel, along with a possible medical school and a medical college on Cayman Brac, with an eye toward increasing medical tourism to the Cayman Islands.

It’s the first such health project in the Western Hemisphere for Shetty, a native of India who has 23 hospitals in 14 cities in India, all of which focus on providing high-level health services for low prices.

The project will be employing around 140 people, according to Health City.