Affordable health care

De Coteau-Sammy has partnered with Health City Cayman Islands (HCCI), an accredited tertiary care hospital in the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, specialising in chronic and acute cardiac, orthopaedic, neurological and paediatric cases.

Its website says, “We are the largest hospital in the Caribbean to be accredited by JCI, and our patient services reflect those high standards of care. These include: semi and private patient rooms, intensive care unit (ICU) suite with 17 ICU beds, a two-bed triage and fourbed recovery unit, three operating theatres, two hybrid operating theatres, laboratory operating on a 24/7 basis for both inpatient and outpatient services, imaging suite encompassing MRI, gamma camera, nuclear medicine, and CT technology.” It also offers cardiology, anaesthesiology, endocrinology, medical oncology, orthopaedics, paediatrics, physiotherapy, pulmonology and surgical services such as bariatric surgery, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery and spinal surgery.

In an interview with Newsday de Coteau-Sammy explained why she partnered with HHCI. “During my pregnancy I had complications. So I was forced to be sent overseas. I was diagnosed with placenta previa [a condition in which the placenta partially or wholly blocks the neck of the uterus, so interfering with normal delivery of a baby].

They did not even have the medication in Montserrat for me and when I tried to get it in Antigua, the neighbouring island they did not have it either.

“The doctor said, ‘you know what, once the bleeding stops for a day leave and go to the States because if anything happens to you, we cannot treat with it here’,” she said.

De Coteau-Sammy said when she got to the US she went to Orlando Health and there was a network of doctors under one umbrella from which she could choose. “You could search by speciality and find a gynaecologist or obstetrician and you could find out what hospitals they practise in, what they’ve done,” she said.

She originally envisaged starting a website, where all doctors within the region could be listed.

Noting that there were many people within the region who travel, she said a website should be readily available where someone could go on the site and find a doctor as well as read testimonials about the doctor.

The HHCI’s tagline, “Welcome to world-class, destination healthcare” speaks directly to the core of medical tourism. A field that is set to grow by US$32.5 billion by 2019. According to a July 2015 marketwatch.com report, citing a report titled “Medical Tourism Market (India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea, Costa Rica, Poland, Dubai and Philippines) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019” by Transparency Report it noted, “the value of the global medical tourism industry was pegged at US$10.5 billion in 2012. This is estimated to grow to US$32.5 billion by 2019...” It is a combination of these factors which led de Coteau- Sammy to partner with Health City Cayman Islands to provide model health care, coupled with the Caribbean’s sun, sea and sand. The rates she said are approximately 30 to 90 percent cheaper than that offered in the US.

“It [getting that type of treatment in the region] expanded for me based on the facility I experienced there. Based on the flat fee rate they had as an option. Finding out that if you paid with insurance you paid four times as much as a flat rate.

Knowing the facility in Cayman, I mean it was really important to me to provide that to Trinidad.

“When I had my daughter there were so many horror stories with women who were dying during pregnancy. Dying with babies or lost their babies. Getting it in paper bags. For me that was really difficult.” She expressed one of her biggest fears prior to having her daughter was childbirth. When she heard the “horror stories” during her pregnancy, “it was extremely nerve-racking and I wanted to ensure we provide quality health care or give people the option at a discounted rate.” De Coteau-Sammy said people always think if they go to the US it would be rather costly and they would be willing to take their chances in TT. Something, she believes, should never be the case for anyone. “It should never be a situation where you say I would take my chances when it comes to your life.”

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