(CMR) Health City Cayman Islands broke ground for a purpose-built dedicated cancer treatment centre on Thursday, 28 November with a golden shovel ceremony at the tertiary care medical facility’s site in East End, Grand Cayman.
Once complete, the cancer treatment centre will allow Health City Cayman Islands to provide greatly expanded oncology treatment options, including medical oncology, surgical oncology, and radiation therapy, in addition to being a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) facility.
Owned and operated by Indian health care giant Narayana Health under the leadership of world-renowned surgeon, entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Health City Cayman Islands announced plans for the cancer treatment centre in August 2018.
The groundbreaking ceremony comes after an 18-month planning process during which architectural plans were drawn, financing secured, and technology and construction partners identified.
Arch & Godfrey, which has over 45 years of construction experience in the Cayman Islands, is the contractor for the project, which is being financed by CIBC First Caribbean International Bank. The hospital’s technology partner supplying the specialized radiation therapy equipment is the U.S.-based Varian Medical Systems.
His Excellency Governor Martyn Roper, Premier Hon Alden McLaughlin, Deputy Premier Hon Moses Kirkconnell, Speaker of the House Hon McKeeva Bush, Minister of Health Hon Dwayne Seymour, Health City Director Dr. Anesh Shetty, Health City Clinical Director Cayman Islands, Dr. Binoy Chattuparambil and Arch & Godfrey Managing Director Garth Arch donned hard hats and wielded ceremonial shovels to officially break ground at the site, which is directly adjacent to the hospital’s existing facility.
It is anticipated that the construction of the bespoke facility will be completed in six to eight months.
Health City Cayman Islands Clinical Director Dr. Binoy Chattuparambil spoke at the cancer treatment centre groundbreaking event, reinforcing the hospital’s commitment to the Cayman Islands and to providing world-class medical care to patients throughout the Americas.
He said the multi-million-dollar facility is intended to fill an existing healthcare gap for the Cayman Islands, and the surrounding region, with a state-of-the-art centre offering, expanded cancer care in a purpose-built building.
Dr. Chattuparambil revealed that the new cancer treatment centre, which will include accommodation for overseas patients, will be the first such facility for the Cayman Islands, and will feature technology used nowhere else in the region.
He explained, “The use of the latest proven technologies in radiation therapy will be a cornerstone of the services offered at Health City’s cancer treatment centre. This is in line with our ongoing focus on using technology to provide the highest quality healthcare possible at a more affordable cost.”
Health City’s cancer treatment centre will be using Varian’s TrueBeam Linear Accelerator (LINAC), a world-class LINAC system that is fully integrated for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery.
Dr. Chattuparambil explained, “The Varian Truebeam linear accelerator delivers high doses of radiation to tumors while minimizing the dose to surrounding tissue. This makes treatment more efficient and effective. These innovations are on the cutting edge for the advanced treatment of various cancers, and the use of this technology will be a first for the Caribbean region – differentiating Health City’s cancer treatment centre from all others.”
He said local patients will be secure in the knowledge that they are getting the best and most up-to-date treatment available anywhere in the world, while also having the comfort and security of remaining at home in Cayman for the duration of their care.
Dr. Chattuparambil said, “We look forward to bringing cancer patients in the Cayman Islands this peace of mind, while also offering significant cost savings compared to getting the same treatment overseas.”
He emphasized that Health City’s cancer treatment centre will serve as a complement and expansion to the current cancer detection and treatment capabilities offered in the Cayman Islands, and will work hand-in-hand with the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority (HSA), as well as private physicians, to ensure that local patients receive seamless and comprehensive treatment.
He and other speakers also noted the benefit to the Cayman Islands Government as well as private health insurers of the anticipated lower costs in treating local cancer patients on-island rather than sending them overseas.
Beyond providing oncology services to patients living in the Cayman Islands, it is also anticipated that Health City’s cancer treatment centre will also attract oncology patients from around the Caribbean and Central America, who previously would not have had access to the advanced therapies possible using the specialized equipment.
Dr. Chattuparambil closed his remarks by outlining Health City’s plans for future and ongoing growth in the Cayman Islands.
“After five years of building out our core specialties, we are now responding to the need and demand for oncology services. However, this is not the end of our expansion plans. In the not too distant future, we are looking to offer further expanded and highly specialized medical services to fill other existing gaps in medical care available locally and regionally,” he affirmed.
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