Caribbean tertiary care hospital Health City Cayman Islands has announced direct charter flights to transport patients from St. Maarten to Grand Cayman for specialized medical treatment.
Following an agreement between Health City Cayman Islands and SZV Social & Health Insurances, the government-owned national health insurer in St. Maarten, the weekly flights have been instituted with Cayman Airways utilizing the Saab 340B+, which currently serves the national airline's Cayman Brac route.
Dr. Chandy Abraham, CEO and Head of Medical Services at Health City Cayman Islands, noted that the agreement is part of the hospital's expanding reach across its target markets.
"With the agreement with SZV Social & Health Insurances in St. Maarten, Health City Cayman Islands continues to grow our patient numbers and reach new markets to build medical tourism or, as we term it, destination healthcare in the Cayman Islands. We have ongoing operations in a number of Caribbean and Latin American markets, in addition to agreements with self-insured companies in the United States of America, and our dedicated office in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada."
Dr. Abraham continued: "International patient numbers continue to grow. Health City Cayman Islands treated international patients from more than 60 countries in 2016. As our third anniversary approaches on April 2, we have treated over 25,000 outpatients and close to 3,000 inpatients to date. Health City Cayman Islands has achieved these numbers while maintaining the highest quality of care standards, bringing medical innovation to the region, and continually expanding into new markets."
As part of the agreement with SZV Social & Health Insurances, Health City Cayman Islands will provide tertiary healthcare to St. Maarten patients, who are awaiting treatments that are unavailable in the country.
Cayman Islands Premier and Minister of Health Hon. Alden McLaughlin observed the benefits that Health City Cayman Islands and medical tourism bring to the Cayman Islands economy. "We hope to see the number of tourists significantly increasing as patients and their families come to the Cayman Islands for healing and care," Premier McLaughlin said.
Deputy Premier and Minister of Tourism Hon. Moses Kirkconnell outlined that "Health City Cayman Islands is adding another dimension to our destination by playing a leading role in diversifying our tourism product to include medical tourism."
St. Maarten Prime Minister Hon. William Marlin said the Government embraces the new agreement and the opportunities it offers. "We hope it will have tremendous healthcare benefits for the people of St. Maarten," said Prime Minister Marlin, who congratulated all stakeholders who played a role in securing the new partnership. Inasmuch as the initiative will shuttle St. Maarten residents to the Cayman Islands for medical treatment, the Prime Minister encouraged Caymanians to visit St. Maarten for tourism and recreation.
Emil Lee, Minister of Labor, Health and Social Development for St. Maarten, said the new direct air service from Cayman to St. Maarten offers a visa-free travel experience and provides St. Maarten residents with skilled medical personnel and leading edge diagnostic and surgical procedures and techniques, with proven success rates.
He asserted St. Maarten is not only looking for an affordable, accessible and quality partner to send patients. "We are looking for a long-term partner that can assist with St. Maarten's goal of helping our hospital in its quest for Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation. So besides a partner to handle medical referrals, we are looking for a long-term partner that can offer administrative and technical support."
St. Maarten Inspector General Dr. Earl Best mentioned the quality and safety of care provided at Health City Cayman Islands as a major factor in the agreement. "I personally visited Health City Cayman Islands over a year ago to investigate the quality of this institution firsthand and returned home impressed with what I saw. The fact that Health City Cayman Islands is accredited by Joint Commission International, boasts skilled surgeons and high quality of outcomes, and English is spoken gives the people and government of St. Maarten the assurance that patients will receive excellent and compassionate care."
Chief Operations Officer of SZV Social & Health Insurances Ramzy Dennaoui noted both quality and cost as integral to the agreement with Health City Cayman Islands. He added that SZV is interested in a long-term strategic partnership that will provide the highest quality of care while also giving value for money. Overall, he said SZV is working to get the best care that is closest to home for its clients. He explained that while lack of direct airlift formerly proved a logistical challenge, the charter flights to the Cayman Islands are providing greater ease of access for St. Maarten patients.
Summing up the new developments, Dr. Abraham said: "The agreement with SZV adds to an increasing number of agreements signed by Health City Cayman Islands, regional governments and insurance providers to become a service provider of choice for specialized tertiary care."
The inaugural flight left Grand Cayman for St. Maarten on Tuesday, March 28 at 9 a.m. Cayman Islands time, with a brief refueling stop in Kingston, Jamaica before arriving in St. Maarten around 3:40 p.m. The return leg left St. Maarten the following morning with patients and a representative of SZV on board.
It is anticipated that the direct charter flights will continue for an initial period of six weeks, with approximately 20 people on board each flight. Once the schedule is completed, Health City Cayman Islands and SZV will make a decision on the continuation of the service.