Health City Cayman Islands has bought 500,000 shares for almost $4.1 million in Doctors Hospital Health System in the Bahamas.
This is the first major investment in a healthcare facility in the Caribbean outside of Cayman for Dr. Devi Shetty’s Narayana Health, the India-based parent company of Health City.
In a joint statement issued on Monday morning, 17 Feb., Health City Cayman and Doctors Hospital Health System said the deal, which became effective on 12 Feb., would provide funding for the Bahamian Doctors Hospital’s “expansion efforts, increasing access to quality healthcare across The Bahamas and beyond, with a particular emphasis on surgical services”.
Doctors Hospital Health System in the Bahamas is not affiliated with Doctors Hospital in Cayman.
The deal, described as a “strategic transaction”, will also likely mean more patients from the Bahamas being referred to Health City in Cayman for treatment.
Dr. Charles Diggiss, president and CEO of Doctors Hospital in the Bahamas, said in the statement that the new partnership would provide “patients in and from The Bahamas with referral access to advanced, extended, and more affordable healthcare services at Health City in the Cayman Islands”.
Expanding relationship
The deal continues the relationship between the two healthcare companies that began in January last year, when Health City announced it was working with Doctors Hospital Bahamas on the coordination of highly complex medical cases, in which the Cayman hospital would be a preferred and less costly referral option for patients of the Nassau-based hospital rather than US health facilities.
Diggiss, in the statement Monday, said Doctors Hospital’s “relationship with Dr. Devi Shetty, renowned cardiac surgeon and chairman of the Narayana Health network, Health City’s parent company, has grown significantly in recent years through his excellent team at Health City”.
He added, “Health City is a ‘gold standard’ partner that recognizes the ‘best-in-class’ value of our Doctors Hospital brand. We are honored by this vote of confidence from such a remarkable Caribbean healthcare organization. Through this relationship, we are already benefiting from improved economies and better purchasing costs, which will contribute to the enhanced affordability of our main hospital services in Nassau.”
The deal means Health City now owns 4.01% of shares in Doctors Hospital Health Services, which has a total of 18.75 million authorised shares, and 12.47 million issued shares, following the issuance of the shares to the Cayman entity.
Investing in the Caribbean
Narayana Health, which owns Health City Cayman Islands, has been looking for further investments in healthcare in the Caribbean.
In interviews published by a number of business publications in late 2023, Narayana Health’s Executive Vice Chairman Viren Prasad Shetty indicated that the company intended to capitalise on its success in Cayman to establish hospitals in other Caribbean countries. He was quoted in India’s Business Today as saying, “Currently, we are engaged in discussions with several nations and exploring various opportunities in the region.”
A spokesperson for Health City confirmed to the Compass, “This is the first investment for Health City Cayman Islands Ltd or Narayana Health, within the Caribbean, outside of the Cayman Islands. We cannot comment on any other plans/discussions at this time.”
The spokesperson said Health City has already been welcoming patients from the Bahamas, offering them services across “a wide variety of tertiary care specialties”.
The deal comes as Health City marks more than a decade of healthcare in the Cayman Islands. It opened its 105-bed hospital in East End in February 2014, and has been expanding its services since. It opened a second hospital, in Camana Bay, last year.
Both Health City and Doctors Hospital in the Bahamas are accredited by Joint Commission International.
In a joint comment on the Bahamas transaction, Dr. Binoy Chattuparambil, clinical director, and Shomari Scott, chief business officer, at Health City said the company was committed to “becoming a vital solution for those in the Caribbean seeking high-quality tertiary specialist care at an affordable cost”.
They added, “This partnership with Doctors Hospital Health System not only enhances our ability to serve the Bahamian community but also empowers Doctors Hospital to advance its mission for the future. Together, we are paving the way for improved healthcare access and exceptional patient care across the region.”
CFO of the Doctors Hospital Health System, Dennis Deveaux, said in Monday’s statement that the relationship with Health City should lead to lower purchasing costs for Doctors Hospital in the Bahamas, “as broad economies of scale are leveraged”. He added that patients at the hospital would see more affordable price points for private healthcare services.
He added, “Further, where certain critical services are not available on island, Health City will present as a more affordable destination for Bahamian patients looking to access care regionally.”
KPMG LLP in the Cayman Islands advised Health City on the transaction.
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