Health City Cayman Islands Reopens for Emergency and Critical Care Referrals Only
CAYMAN ISLANDS (March 27, 2020) – Health City Cayman Islands, the Cayman Islands’ sole tertiary medical care facility, is announcing its first phase of reopening starting from Friday, March 27 at 12pm.
The initial phase will entail the reopening of Emergency Services only by referral from other local health care facilities. This would include patients who require emergency treatment and critical care services.
All other services will remain closed during the initial phase, including Outpatient Services and all elective procedures.
Clinical Director Dr. Binoy Chattuparambil said, “As the Cayman Islands’ sole tertiary care facility, it is imperative that we open as soon as possible in order to support the emergency health care needs of the local population. However, we would not reopen unless we were fully confident that potential transmission of the COVID-19 virus has been suppressed. We are reassured by the most recent test results announced by Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee on Friday, March 27. We stand ready to assist in the treatment of emergency and critical cases as needed. We will announce subsequent phases of our reopening in due course. We stand committed to acting in the best interests of the health of the Cayman Islands community.”
To facilitate the reopening of emergency services and critical care, one wing of the hospital has been physically segregated and assigned exclusively only for the isolation of suspected or COVID-19 positive patients.
Another wing of the hospital will be used only for newly admitted emergency patients. The newly admitted emergency patients will not have any contact with the existing patients of the hospital or the staff taking care of them.
The staff taking care of the new emergency admissions are also physically segregated from those staff members taking care of the existing patients.
Commenting on the need for these measures, Dr. Chattuparambil said, “We now, and for the immediate future, live in a COVID-19 world and we must prepare just as we would if we knew a patient was potentially COVIID-19 positive.”
