The creators of a purpose-built, high-tech health and wellness centre marked a milestone with a topping-out ceremony at the site of its new building.
Executives from the Dart Group were joined by representatives of the medical profession, politicians and other guests to sign a girder at the Centre for Health and Wellness site in Camana Bay to mark the completion of the highest structural element of the building.
Gary Gibbs, Dart’s executive vice president for development, told the gathering, “Just next door is Health City, a modern facility delivering world-class healthcare.
“Together with the new Centre for Health and Wellness, an exciting new district is taking shape in Camana Bay – a district where Cayman’s medical and wellness professionals can serve those who live in and visit the Cayman Islands.”
Gibbs said the building, expected to open next year, would offer 118,000 square feet of space for medical and wellness-related services – designed to be flexible and capable of adaptation to move with the times.
He added the building, on Cerasee Way, next to Health City, was also configured to accommodate specialist equipment and features to make it easier for tenants to fit out their premises in line with Cayman health practice guidelines.
Specialised build
Gibbs said even the elevators/lifts will be capable of taking hospital gurneys and floors will be able to support heavy medical equipment.
There will also be integrated biohazard waste disposal and high-level air filtration and purification systems.
Dr Binoy Chattuparambil, Health City’s chief cardiac surgeon, said the new centre emphasised prevention rather than cure – in line with modern thinking.
He told the audience that more than 60% of deaths around the world were attributed to cardiovascular disease or were cancer related.
Chattuparambil said many people delayed acting on heart attack warning signals and that most cancers, if detected early, could be successfully treated.
He added, “This is exactly the gap this wellness centre is designed to address.”
Chattuparambil said, “It strengthens a model of care that is preventative rather than reactive, more integrated rather than fragmented and very accessible.”
He explained that Health City and the new centre were designed to promote “a more holistic approach to care and an extension of the care Health City provides”.
Cost-efficient healthcare
Chattuparambil said, “If we want people to take prevention seriously, healthcare has to be easy to access and part of everyday life.”
He highlighted that spending on healthcare would be reduced if wellness was prioritised.
Chattuparambil said, “The difference would be huge, and I sense this building is the beginning of that change.”
Health Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks congratulated Dart for its “vision as it relates to this wellness centre” and underlined the government’s commitment to cutting the incidence of non-communicable diseases.
“It’s so wonderful that we have this centre here to focus on preventative care,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working with all the individuals from the Dart organisation as this building is completed.”
Editor’s Note: The Cayman Compass is a subsidiary of Dart Media and Entertainment.
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