The introduction of a cardiac unit, which will include a catheterisation laboratory, will mean that patients with heart conditions will no longer have to fly off island for treatment.
Dr. Shetty and Minister of Health Mark Scotland signed the agreement on Thursday night, 11 November, after the launch of Cayman’s first national health conference.
“With the opening of this cardiac unit, the people of these islands for the first time have quick access to care that will, undoubtedly, prevent and limit the progression of cardiac conditions,” said Premier McKeeva Bush at the signing of the agreement.
The announcement of the new heart unit was made by government minister Mike Adam on Mr. Bush’s behalf to delegates of the conference at the Ritz-Carlton hotel because the premier had been delayed returning from St. Lucia, where he had travelled on Thursday on a whistle-stop trip with emergency supplies to be delivered for victims of Hurricane Tomas.
Mr. Bush described the donation of the cardiac unit and catheterisation, or cath, lab as a “blessing” for the health sector and thanked Dr. Shetty, saying the cardiologist was “not just talking about development, not just promising, not just having another meeting, but he has delivered”.
He added that by making the donation, Dr. Shetty, and his family and board, were “ready to show their worth to Cayman”.
Managed by new medical centre
The new cardiac unit will be funded and managed by the Narayana Cayman University Medical Centre, a “health city” which Dr. Shetty is proposing to build in Cayman once the government has changed certain laws and regulations to allow Indian medical staff to work locally and to place a $500,000 cap on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice suits.
Cardiac catheterisation labs produce images of blood flow in the arteries and allow surgeons to clear blockages using stents and other devices.
Lizzette Yearwood, CEO of the Health Services Authority, which runs the Cayman Islands Hospital, said it would take about eight months to install the new cardiac unit. “It will be a modular unit and will be installed in the OR,” she said.
The hospital’s operating theatre would have to be renovated to accommodate the cardiac unit.
Dr. Shetty’s staff would operate the unit and charge for cardiac procedures, while the Cayman Islands Hospital would get revenue from the arrangement by admitting the patients and doing the necessary follow-up critical care, Ms Yearwood said.
People have to be airlifted from Cayman for the simplest of heart procedures, but once the cardiac unit is opened, patients can be treated locally, Minister Scotland said.
Dr. Shetty thanked the Cayman Islands Government for “giving us this opportunity to take part in this exciting journey to
make this world a better place to live. We could not hope for a better partner than what we have here.”
The surgeon, who was Mother’s Theresa’s cardiologist and who runs several hospitals in India, had earlier given a presentation at the conference, explaining that the global US$4.5 trillion healthcare industry is recession-proof and will continue to grow.
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