Hospital full as population keeps growing
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town is full to bursting and has become the latest casualty of the unprecedented growth in Cayman’s population. As the headcount here continues its relentless rise, all of the country’s infrastructure is coming under strain, including the government hospital. Officials told CNS that they are doing all they can to manage the “increase in patient demand” for beds “in recent months”.
Following our inquiries, hospital management said that plans to address the growing demand were included in the 2023 strategic plan prepared in January of this year.
“Those plans include short- to medium-term strategies to increase capacity for the Medical and Surgical wards by 25%, expand Treatment Bays in the Accident and Emergency Department by 33%, and to relocate and convert the Ambulatory Care Unit to a ’23-hour ward’, thereby reducing the need for inpatient admission of surgical day cases,” they stated.
The plans have been proceeding throughout this year and administrative staff who previously worked at the main hospital have been relocated to Citrus Grove to make way for the bed expansion plans. The construction of the new Ambulatory Care Unit starts this month, and Phase 2 of the A&E expansion programme is due to start earlier next year, the hospital management team explained.
“The planning approval, procurement and coordination of these plans take time,” an official spokesperson told us. “In the interim, the HSA has created a discharge lounge that allows patients who are discharged from the hospital to have a comfortable waiting area while they await pickup, and rooms are prepared for the next admission.”
Teams are also working in partnership with other government agencies to ensure that hospital beds are reserved for patients who need them. In addition, among the provisions introduced to reduce pressure on the main hospital, the HSA has rolled out a courtesy transportation service to take patients home more quickly following discharge and home visits are being expanded.
“Our broader programme involves a focus on preventative and well-care efforts to reduce the incidences and need for hospitalisation. These measures will buy us time to pursue a broader infrastructure agenda that will enable the provision of bed spaces to meet the population growth needs,” the officials said.
The news about pressure on the hospital follows revelations that almost all government schools are now completely full. Stresses on the road network and a shortage of affordable housing are also a reflection of the growing population, largely a result of a significant surge in expatriate workers over the 18 months since the borders were fully reopened in the wake of the pandemic.
According to the latest figures from WORC, there are now more than 36,500 people on work permits here, and at the end of June the estimated resident population was around 84,000.
Premier Wayne Panton has said this growth is not by design, and that neither PACT nor any previous government that he was aware of was actually pursuing an increase in the population. He said it was a consequence of the economic rebound following the pandemic.
“This growth has been led by the recovery of some of the most labour-intensive industries, such as construction and tourism-related services and by the expansion of others,” he said, pointing to financial services, IT services, fintech and healthcare. “Let us not forget that during the pandemic, the government made a concerted effort to absorb displaced workers and boost inward economic activity through construction and local spending,” he said in parliament last month.
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Category: Health, Medical Health
Meanwhile the rebranded HSA is publicly claiming “Best of Cayman Islands 2023” in several categories. Who is giving these awards?
@CNS: can you enlighten us?
What is the difference between a starter home and a rental unit?
What is wrong with us? Where do we get off thinking every 23 year old struggling to get on the property ladder needs a stand alone house with a yard?
The OPPORTUNITY is what is being provided to anyone who qualifies for a mortgage…wether they’re 23 or 53.
Surely we can support any effort that gives Caymanians a helping hand to enjoy some of the rewards of their place of birth.
Sure. But start off with a one bedroom apartment. They are half the cost and twice as plentiful – and do not require the destruction of further pristine environment. They also reduce urban sprawl, and the expense of roads and transport.
The government need money to carry out their wish list. Jay spending hundreds of thousands on a boat ramp which four people uses…Kenneth has to have his “Disney Land” in town..Julie has to have her extravagant school…goes on and on……….
Have our esteemed Ministers now and before considered what might happen when we get another Ivan ? – my opinion, carnage.
car·nage
/ˈkärnij/
noun
the killing of a large number of people.
who would be killing and whom and why in a case of a natural disaster? To get a bed in a hospital? I am confused.
During a natural disaster, many hospitals may suffer water and wind damage; some may have standing water for an extended period of time due to flooding. Building structures, equipment, and supplies may be heavily contaminated with microorganisms such as mold, mold spores, and bacteria.Many people might also flee the area following a disaster, leaving healthcare facilities short-staffed.
Making sure Cayman hospitals are resilient to natural disasters such as hurricanes should be the focus. Making sure buildings in Cayman are resilient to natural disasters should be the focus. Making sure elderly and those living alone are evacuated should be the focus.
It’s difficult for me to figure the context of your post besides ensuring medical facilities are to be resilient for a natural disaster.
I have to assume you may not have been here for Ivan keeping in mind the population was approx half what it is today and that ‘carnage’ may well be an experience in terms of the slang variation and not literal.
Ivan brought an instance increase in burglary, at the beginning difficulty getting food, loss of power for months, huge exodus at the airport, and took about 2 years to be what might be considered normal as before.
Don’t be confused, be enlightened, it won’t just be the hospital that may be affected, as for ‘the killing’, it absolutely will be the lifestyle you are currently accustomed to, –
great damage, utter defeat, or chaos:We are charting a way forward after the Election Day carnage.
https://www.dictionary.com › browse
Carnage Definition & Meaning – Dictionary.com
The hospital is full , as are the roads , schools , supermarkets any hour of the day you try to shop. Gee ,Wayne…I wonder what is the cause?
Why is it so difficult and problematic for those in charge to see that the island simply can’t cope with the numbers on it? Why not put a temporary limit on immigration, tackle some of the issues over a year and then get going again? Honestly, we have the most inept and lazy government.
Agreed , let’s stop ALL immigration from Jamaica.
That way we reduce crime, bad driving, baby mamas, drugs, unacceptable social behavior , overcrowded ghettos, as a starter.
And we may not have to spend $100Million in building the waste of money resort planned for them at Northward .
None of them want to upset their Jamaican voters who want to bring their entire families over.
They get a contractors license, Hair and nail businesses then seek work permits to bring in their uneducated families over to live off NAU hand outs.
Get the picture Cayman..?
Because of the politicians ,we’re filling the place up with people who need us more than we need them.
The Jamaican politicians only need their votes , that we end up paying for.
it amazes me how we are over populated yet every contractor in every field I work with is in dire need of more skilled workers, make it make sense.
Time to scale up. The race is on.
Someone somewhere please lock the door to the island and start ridding the place of unwanted you know who and where they are.
People coming herewith absolutely nothing to offer at all. Look at your crime rates
Bottom line is that all aspects of the infrastructure will start to bulge at the seams as the rampant immigration continues. Unfortunately, on the flip side, there are some very wealthy and influential families that benefit from more and more people arriving and won’t want it to stop. Gas station owners and supermarket owners to name a few.
@5:59, and spa owners, hairdressers, private medical facilities, dance school owners, private school owners, car dealers …..the list goes on. Most owned by new Caymanians and their children.
Many law firms too. Most of which are owned and controlled by non-Caymanians.
The law firms mainly make their money from offshore financial services – their clients are not on island. No interest in the size of the domestic population. Those interested bigger resident population are the retail operations and the construction industry. And think you will find the old, established law firms that have been here for decades and were instrumental in the growth of the financial services industry are majority owned by Caymanians – most of the equity partners will have been on island for long enough to secure status.
So not majority-owned by Caymanians then but entirely owned by expats at various stages of obtaining the right to live here for as long as their careers continue, until it’s time to retire and waste that fortune on some really tacky hobbies, or finally being able to pretend to have been a gentleman, or whatever, in southern England. Right.
Actually, it now appears most of the owners do not live in Cayman and have never lived in Cayman. You can thank the Attorney General, the Trade & Business licensing authorities (who liberally disperse LCCL’s), the Department of WORC and, it appears, the court, who do not appear to have been terribly active in the regulation of its so called “officers.”
All Caymanians are new.
My 260 year old traceable ancestor has entered the chat.
Our quality of life is deteriorating every day as we cannot handle the massive population growth currently underway.
We cannot handle the level of growth we have had the past decade.
We are destroying our lifestyle rapidly all in the name of big profits for a few Cayman families.
Please stop the madness!! Please please please. I am a new Caymanian having lived here only 20 years but with population now doubled to when I arrived, I don’t know how much more the island can take. And this snowballs. With more people you need more teachers, more doctors, more helpers, more gardeners. This is not even to mention the new Hotel Indigo and Grand Hyatt. I am sure they will each employ 700 or so. When does this end?!
Well, the tourism industry returning to employing local people would be a start.
There will be an argument that more expat lawyers are needed too.
You’re part of the problem.
You’re only a part of the problem if you employ Jamaicans.
Take a look at any city anywhere, and there is your answer. It is not in human nature to contain their growth, influence or spoilage of natural resources.
People are only limited by geography, and often even that is overcome, built upon and the beat goes on. With overdevelopment driving government coffers, who do you think will put the brakes on things?
Then you aren’t a Caymanian at all! You’re part of the same problem you’re pointing to, just you got here earlier. You are one of the same people we need more teachers, more doctors, more helpers, and more gardeners for. This problem was anticipated in the 70s, and every time we tried to protect ourselves, we just end up creating more rights for more people (like you). The UK made us agree to sell the place out long-term, provide whoever lives here with a path to citizenship, allowing the population to grow over time, allowing us to eventually go independent. That is the long, long-term plan for this place. So to answer your question: it never ends. Capitalism dictates what happens here, and that’s all there is to this place now. The UK looks at Cayman as a thriving business, more people = bigger tax base, less risk. Local government sees it the same way, more people more money, they just accommodate the growth by improving service provision, but that lags behind the growth. The growth is both planned and unplanned – it’s by design.
just took a quick read of the government’s strategic policy statement very little support for healthcare there, it is clear Sabrina and company didn’t see this coming.
Probably neither did Dwayne (“Jon Jon”) Seymour before her.
Finish Building Ezzards Hospital.
Oh for gods sake, 4:39. Have you been there recently?
The landmass is still there use that and build a new hospital facility.
Enter than building a new prison
8.10 well said..
A prison benefits no one.
A hospital or affordable housing benefits the entire community for generations.
As usually nobody asks the right questions.
Why so many sick people? To get a work permit one has to provide a proof of being in good health. Besides, most expats are in their prime, 25-45. So who is hospitalised? What their age is? And what kind of health problems do the have?
You no longer have to prove you are in good health to get a work permit. The Chief Medical Officer changed the whole system. The Immigration Boards no longer get to see Medicals as part of their decision making process. The implications are wide ranging and affect not only healthcare but also insurance costs.
😮
A prime example of well intentioned and highly qualified experts from overseas assuming local laws to be the same as where they came from (they are not) and not fully understanding the full implications of their decisions.
I used to live and work in Cayman, health assessment was a requirement.
Yes. But no longer…
The Chief Medical Officer is going to get himself Anwar-d pretty shortly here. He’s causing a lot of problems for a lot of people and we already have a lot of problems here. We do things our own way – anybody who tries to force outside standards on us without regard for local circumstances gets the boot. I hope to see him fired or chased out of his job soon. He’s already pissed off all the doctors and pharmacies on island by purporting to enact legislation with a piece of paper with the word ‘rules’ written on it. An ironic misuse of his powers under the Misuse of Drugs Act. It’s actually not an exercise of his powers at all – if he wants to make legally binding regulations, he has to have them drafted by lawyers and gazetted, which he hasn’t done. The CMO is a joke, I hope someone calls him out soon.
You need to go and have a hard think to yourself. Are you implying that 25 year olds don’t have accidents or need to see a doctor?
Are you serious? Why would 25 year olds would have accidents and illnesses requiring hospitalization?
Please step away from the Keyboard.
You only have to look at the physical shape of our elected representatives to get an idea of the ‘big’ issue here.
A bigger issue than that, is the demographic makeup of Caymanian society today. And the burdens that come with it.
🤫 you are not allowed to say that
The failure by our PR system to monitor and properly vet applicants, coupled with 10 years of status and permits and dependents permissions for all – has conspired to mean that “expatriates” are no longer confined to the demographic band you assume.
In addition, given that around 12% of our population has no health insurance (according to the ESO) the funding required for healthcare is not there.
Add to that changes to the work permit medical processes, it would appear that there is an increased chance of expatriates with serious illness taking up residence here.
All of this was foreseen. The warnings have been ignored.
Yeah, but WHO is actually hospitalized and with what? This is a legitimate question.
To be admitted to a hospital one has to have a life threatening condition. After he or she is stabilized they’re discharged.
CIG must know what exactly is happening to Cayman population before committing to build another hospital.
When you get people going to emergency with a common cold or flu, what do you expect?
eat less, do more, live longer and healthier.
caymanian diet and lack of activity is truly terrifying
you’re so astute
thank you.
Sarcasm is lost on you
Well at least they have a strategic plan, that puts them ahead of the Cabinet.
infrastructure
/ˈɪnfrəˌstrʌktʃə/
noun
the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.
“the social and economic infrastructure of a country”
pre·ven·tion
/prēˈven(t)SH(ə)n/
noun
the action of stopping something from happening or arising
doomed
/duːmd/
adjective
likely to have an unfortunate and inescapable outcome; ill-fated.
“the moving story of their doomed love affair”
Curb the temp work permits now!
Fix the Dump.
Work permit holders are young and healthy
For most positions, yes. And cancel the permits and deport all the expatriates already here with no health insurance. THAT is what our laws effectively require.
Try making all Cinico patients pay a nominal fee of 5 or 10 bucks per visit.
I’ll bet you just might have surplus space.
Funny thing about making people pay even if it’s just a token amount.
Some of us in the civil service charged with strategic thinking on the subject tried that many years ago @12:00. You would have thought we suggested eff your mama. Shot down and abuse poured on us. Dead in the water.
this is bonkers…cyaman has many more hospital beds per capita than most other countries
The per capita figures are a lie. The actual population greatly exceeds the ESO’s “statistical” population and has done for years.
wrong…there are only facts.
what you are saying applys to every country.
Wrong. Very few other countries have a highly mobile and expatriate majority to their population.
I do not know of any other country that has 20% more people there than the government says, or that has run out of school places and hospital beds DESPITE money not being an issue.
The mismanagement of our country is shocking.
The fact is that the actual number of people here is more than the amount described as being here by the ESO. Materially so.
“Facts” are NOT Facts if they do not include anyone on a TWP, a PCW, or a WOL, or within 6 months of their term limit – OR any of their dependents.
Those “Facts” are half truths and are very dangerous if it is not made absolutely clear to those relying on the “Facts” that there are thousands of people living here that are not accounted for.
You do understand that when most people want to know how many people are living here, that is the information they expect to be given?
If you think the population is 72,000 as per the last census, then possibly. The problem is that that reliance ignores around 30,000 people who are sleeping here tonight, and for whatever reason (some good, some bad) were not counted as part of the census. Count those 30,000 and you may realize why our systems and infrastructure are now strained to breaking point.
Do you mean visitors?
88,000 residents. 12,000 visitors. Nice round number for you?
No. 88,000 live here. There are about 12,000 visitors (including tourist visitors and snowbirds).
This just shows the incompetence of all that is responsible!!!
it shows nothing for there is no statistics on the state of health of Cayman population – by age and disease,
overpopulation
Which would be who? Therein is much of the crux of the problem: No consequences, no responsibility. Growth without restraint, with the emphasis on immediate gratification and NO long view or plans.
Wayne admits he is about “construction”, you heard it out of the horses mouth. The island is headed for disaster and its very much by design. You keep approving endless permits on the daily, how is that not by design? now the CI government is facing continuous lawsuits from people who feel “entitled” to stay here indefinitely. Wayne and pact or either plain daff or very sinister in their motives. Daff more fits the bill, and when the bow breaks its going to get real bad around this country.
The word you mean is ‘daft’, meaning foolish, not ‘daff’ as Anonymous spells it. He must be daft!
The ESO reports that last year there were 39,000 Caymanians here.
WORC reports there are 36,501 persons here on work permits.
There are around 7,000 Permanent Residents.
There are around 6,000 Expatriate Dependents on work permit holders, government workers and others.
There are around 1,000 expatriates here on student visas.
There are around 100 foreign prisoners in Northward.
Then there are friends and family visiting from overseas and more than 7,000 hotel rooms/tourist accommodations.
The number of people in Cayman (requiring infrastructure including hospitals) is approaching 100,000 (88,000 without counting visitors).
…now add the canoe enthusiasts.
I think you’re over reacting 9:42, be patient, once the 100,000 is achieved everything will be alright, Cayman will be bathed in the glorious light of utopia 💋
Must be the PPM talking.
This is silly. Our growth should not be described as unprecedented…it’s been growing at a steady clip for the better part of the decade. It’s a higher than average rate for sure but anyone with two eyes and two brain cells could have seen it coming a mile away. So why are we just in 2023 expanding the hospital? Because it’s only now that it’s bursting at the seams and we always wait until it’s too late to make an improvement. By the time the improvement is made, the solution won’t be sufficient.
Case in point: roads, airport, high schools, now hospital. CIG for the win
Wayne announced earlier that the population grew by 8,000 in one year, perhaps he should have told the wider public sector that his relaxed policies on immigration was going to grow the population that fast so they could prepare. I get the sense that Government departments are getting the news at the same time as the wider public and there is no internal strategic planning taking place.
It didn’t grow by 8,000. That was partly an invention to cover for the fact that the census didn’t actually count everyone.
a new hospital isn’t built overnight, they should have been planning for this 10 years ago if they planned to invite this many people on to the Island
DART and Shetty have both proved it can be done in 2 years. It is only the Cayman Government that needs 10.
There was a hospital being built remember… it now houses Cubans and female prisoners…after being cancelled by the next group voted in.
It was even smaller than the present one and on two sites one of which was in a swampy area.
Some information for ‘recent’ arrivals.
The Hortor Memorial Hospital was designed with the realization that it would, one day, need to be expanded, and on a parcel large enough to allow that.
The design was such that each department could be added to in modules, as needed, minimizing disruption to the whole.
MacKeeva’s limited intellect couldn’t grasp that, as he was more concerned with transient personal glory, as opposed to a longer term view of Statesmanship.
Most of Cayman has been built “in a swampy area”..including the WHOLE of Camana Bay.
Somehow, minds greater than yours managed to overcome that problem.
And where do you get “2 sites” from..?
@PPM
No it was cancelled by MacKeeva who didn’t want Ezzard to get the credit. As usual it cost Cayman and he insisted that twice as much be spent on adding and squeezing in improvements to the old hospital we have now.
The new GT hospital, on time and within budget which is rare nowadays, did NOT cost twice as much as the proposed Dr Hortor split site proposal. Fake news. The costs were in fact very similar.
Are you suggesting that the money spent on knocking down existing, rerouting services, retro fitting, squeezing into a restricted site , extra time taken to complete tasks, added labor costs etc, is not additional cost/money that could be better spent on new works..?
No but luckily health city started one about a year ago and looks like about another year to go. Appears they had a bit of a plan while HSA and government clearly did not.
Ding, ding, ding, you hit the nail on the head!
Good plans, but I think a lot of this will go the way of the long term mental health facility as they are losing the person who drove many of the improvements seen in recent years. The lack of space and long waiting times will therefore be here for a while, get used to it.
Gee maybe increasing the population without also increasing the availability and effectiveness of key services was a bad idea…. who could have seen this comings
Damn..I would have never known!!!! We been singing this to the high havens that we cannot accommodate any more people. Everywhere is crammed pack with expats. Make a long story short we are living in a “dangerous nightmare”. It’s nothing short of treason what continues to be done to Caymanians and our beautiful islands.
Mr premier.. wake up!!!
A&E aside, this must be mostly through more expat government employees and their dependents?
Surely the CINICO free-for-all has to end soon???
Time to put a ban on clearing any new land for the foreseeable future. Only allow properties to be redeveloped.
Too many people needing homes now Bobo . Need to build affordable homes for local people.
When the construction industry collapses and its workers are sent back to their homeland, the one thing we are not going to have a shortage of is houses.
Low income houses or rental units? Certainly not other residential accommodation.
No Wayne, its the result of the status give away by Mackeeva, you remember you were running around telling people how bad it was for Cayman and how it would ruin us, why cant you say that now? Speak the truth Wayne, you are such a hypocrite these days OMG !!!!
Please go back in the corner of the classroom and put your hat back on.
They just said there are 36000 work permits which presumably excludes dependents. You can be angry about the status grants from 20 years ago all you want but that has nothing to do with this problem.
You should actually see how many baby daddies and mommies are out there. we’ve got a crime problem which is out of control. so those kids that were unwanted by all the status grants are now Caymanian adult wannabe thugs.
Same status giveaway is also responsible for our increasing gun violence and robberies.
So the solution is to build a new $100MILLION dollar prison to make criminals more comfortable , with gym, library, three meals a day, education and counseling at ongoing monthly costs to bankrupt the country..giving them a life far better than for the many who are NOT in prison.
Take the $Millions of consultants fees alone, to improve our medical facilities, needed by non criminals.
I wonder how many affordable homes $100Million would build….for NON criminals.
Stop the influx of work permit holders and hire Caymanians, who are capable on a meritorious basis, then watch how better things will get.
It would be interesting to know, from those initial 3000 status grants 20 years ago, how many children, grand children and other dependents and relatives are now here.
A multiple of that number I would wager.
It is around 20,000.
Keep them all in one voting district so their damage is limited.
They are mostly in Bodden Town East aka Little Kingston.
Bodden Town
Because those status grants, their spouses, their children, their childrens spouses, etc… etc… are voters now. How many is that? 10,000?
We are F@$^ed!!!
At least 10,000 more votes for Mac Kenneth Seymour and Saunders…farewell Cayman.
Much more. At least one status recipient has a dozen children. They are now having their own children. Cayman is being destroyed.
Well, they are all Caymanians… and I don’t think there is a damn thing you can do about that.
Well, you could revoke status from all those who have committed serious crimes, for a start.
You could also investigate some of the more egregious grants, and if corruption is implicated, declare them void.
Like the waitress who had just arrived and hooked up with the right politician you mean..?
Or the Bahamian who had never even visited Cayman..?
Yup. Like them.
Correct 5:54 and it was an all Born Caymanian government that gave out all the gold in the Gold Rush.
An illegal grant is a void grant.
Illegality voids the grants.
Not repeat old mistakes. Prevent future mistakes from occurring preemptively.