Why did you select the Cayman Islands to establish your new medical facility?
A number of locations in the Caribbean expressed interest in having our facility in their countries. We ultimately decided on the Cayman Islands for many reasons, including their proximity to the United States and the fact that our specialists would be allowed to practice here.

What specific medical treatments do you plan to offer and will these services be available to residents as well as visitors?
Our facilities will focus on tertiary care, including serious heart, cancer, neurological and orthopaedic conditions. All treatments and services will be available to Cayman residents.

You have transformed the medical care model for the people of India. What is your philosophy for providing medical care and will you adopt that same philosophy for the new facility?
Our mission in India has been to provide world-class heath care at affordable prices. We do this, in part, by performing high volumes of surgeries but also by purchasing medical equipment and supplies from our vendors at very favourable rates. We’re able to do this because we are such large customers of these firms. While our operating cost structure in Cayman will be somewhat different, we are confident our overall philosophy of providing the highest-quality medical care at affordable prices will work on the Island.

What benefits will the development present for the people of the Cayman Islands?
Our development will bring jobs, education and training, substantial revenue and world-class medical care to the people of the Cayman Islands. We hope, and expect, that many young Caymanians will pursue health care for their careers. We will offer employment opportunities at many levels, from administrative positions to jobs as nurses, medical technicians and, of course, physicians as well. Other businesses, including hotels, restaurants, airlines, construction, telecommunications providers and many more will also benefit.

Where do you plan to focus your efforts on attracting international clients to the new facility?
We project that approximately 50 per cent of our patients will come from the United States, with the remaining half originating from Canada, South America, the Caribbean and other parts of the world

What are your plans to staff the new facility? Will there be opportunities for Caymanians?
Initially we will open our doors as a 200-bed hospital with plans to expand over a 15-year period to 2,000 beds. At opening, we will need approximately 600 to 800 employees and we project about 160 of these will be Caymanians. As the project matures, and our education and training programs take effect, we would expect at the 10-year mark that about 50 per cent of our entire staff will be Caymanian.

Did you find the experience of investing in the Cayman Islands to be pleasant?
Enormously so. As you know, we had Gene Thompson and Harry Chandi representing us in Cayman, and they were both efficient and effective. Your Premier, McKeeva Bush, was enormously supportive, as was your Health Minister, Mark Scotland. MLA Cline Glidden and MLA Ellio Solomon also were extremely helpful. While our negotiations with Government took several months, I think the end result will be beneficial both to us and to the Cayman Islands.

Are there any infrastructural issues that you believe will need to be addressed in the medium to long-term to support the level of business that your new facility will attract?
With any project of this ultimate magnitude, infrastructure issues will need to be addressed. These include airlift and airport capacity, ground transportation, as well as basic utilities such as water and electricity. It is important to remember, though, that ours is a long-term project. For the most part, we anticipate that most current infrastructure, such as the road system, will be adequate to support the facility for at least the first five years.