Health City Cayman Islands will be expanding its facilities, having recently announced plans for a new medical campus at Camana Bay. The US$100 million construction project will result in a new 70,000 square foot hospital in Camana Bay, bolstering both healthcare services in the Cayman Islands as well as medical tourism and the real estate market for buyers of second homes.
Health City Camana Bay, as the hospital will be called, will be positioned south of the Cayman International School, where the Esterley Tibbetts Highway and the new Airport Connector Road intersect.
During construction, which is estimated to take 12 to 18 months to complete, a smaller cancer-care facility will open in Cayman Brac, and the healthcare services available at the satellite location will be integrated into the new hospital when construction is complete.
The expansion means that healthcare services will become available for patients who live in the most populous area of Grand Cayman. This proximity will enable logistical improvements and enhance the medical treatment experience as patients who live nearby will not have to travel far to find the care they need.
This increased accessibility matters particularly for patients in need of palliative care, oncological care, and other forms of specialist care. The central location of the hospital also means that time-sensitive critical care treatment for heart attacks, strokes, and polytrauma can be obtained as quickly as possible, and more lives can be saved.
An advanced oncology department at Health City Cayman Island will be comprised of medical oncology, hemato-oncology, surgical oncology, and radiation oncology. The new medical campus will be the first hospital in the area to offer bone marrow transplants and CAR-T cell therapy.
Robotic surgery, a neonatal intensive care unit, and emergency and critical care are also planned for Health City Camana Bay. The availability of these specialties and others may minimise the need for patients to travel off-island for certain kinds of medical care whilst strengthening healthcare security and improving medical outcomes for Caymanians.
Reactions from both the business sector and the government have been positive. The Health City expansion represents the potential of collaborative efforts between the private and public sectors, and the services promised by the expansion continue to correspond with previously established plans.
The government, as represented by Premier Alden McLaughlin, views the expansion project as an investment in the Cayman Islands, whilst the Minister of Health, Dwayne Seymour, praises the expansion as a way to ensure that more Caymanians have access to high-quality healthcare.
In addition to improving healthcare access for local residents, Health City Camana Bay wants to make Cayman the best option for healthcare in the region. The expansion project also hopes to draw more medical tourists from the United States, Canada, Central America, and other islands in the Caribbean.
Over the past seven years, Health City Cayman Islands has made significant economic contributions to the Cayman Islands. The expansion, located in Camana Bay, where most tourists prefer to stay whilst visiting Cayman, is expected to build on this momentum.
The real estate market in Cayman is also expected to benefit, as investors from abroad in search of a second home may feel more confidence buying in a region that offers robust healthcare and specialist care.
