National Healthcare Statistics & Insights

Healthcare practitioners, specialists and professionals in the Cayman Islands provide services in public and private healthcare to three distinct demographics:

• Caymanians
• Expatriates and
• Medical Tourists

Services offered then fall into one of three subcategories: pre-acute care, acute care, or post-acute care.

1. Pre-Acute Care – this consists of Public Health Services, Primary Care, Pharmacy Services, Laboratory Services and Diagnostic Imaging Services.
2. Acute Care – includes Urgent Care, Accident or Emergency Care, Inpatient General Hospitals and Medical Tourism.
3. Post-Acute Care – more specialist services, including Home Care, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities, Long-Term Care and Nursing Homes, Palliative and Hospice Care.

Although on-Island care is available across these areas, residents often travel to Florida, USA for speciality treatments or assessments for severe conditions (upon referral). It is also not uncommon for residents to be airlifted to Florida after being severely injured, being referred for complicated surgery or seeking treatment for premature infants.

Compared to other jurisdictions, the Cayman Islands have relatively good standing when it comes to investigating the population’s overall health. The Health Insurance Commission (HIC) prioritise compliance with the Health Insurance Laws and Regulations, meaning that the HIC can issue fines to employers, insurers and more if they were to find evidence of non-compliance with such regulations, which includes the existence of unregistered health professionals, employers failing to effect and continue health insurance payments, and other similar breaches. For instance, The Health Insurance Act (2013 Revision) was issued to order that every person, Caymanian or otherwise, needs to be covered by at least the basic Standard Health Insurance Contract (SHIC), whether that be on an individual or company-basis. The Cayman Islands National Insurance Company (CINICO), a government-owned insurer, provides coverage for pensioners, civil servants, veterans, seafarers and their families. Although there is the issue of many refraining from retiring in Cayman due to lack of after-retirement health insurance benefits, benefits for impoverished or destitute residents are widely provided.

In terms of the health of the general population, the Compendium of Statistics (2023) reported that Cayman has an average life expectancy of 82.3, where males are expected to live for approximately 80 years, and females 85 years. This ranks the Cayman Islands in 14th place among some of the highest life expectancy rates in the world.

However, challenges loom in the form of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and mental health concerns. The HSA is actively tackling these issues through various initiatives, not least to gain a clearer picture of the problem through through the 2023 STEPS Heath survey.

Strengths:

• Life expectancy: 83.1 years.
• Infant mortality: 9.7 per 1,000 live births.
• No maternal mortality

Concerns:

• 9% of adolescents use tobacco in some form
• Obesity affects 33% of the population.
• Diabetes prevalence stands at 12%.
• Hypertension affects 30% of residents.
• Cardiovascular disease mortality rate: 107.2 per 100,000.
• Cancer mortality rate: 75.2 per 100,000.
• Mental health issues: 20% of the population reports symptoms.

From June to September of 2023, the Government conducted a nationwide STEPS health survey. STEPS is a standardised tool used to assess non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and risks within a population. Last done in Cayman in 2012, it tracks health changes over a decade. NCDs like heart diseases, diabetes, and cancer are lifestyle-related, not infectious, making lifestyle data collection crucial for identifying risk factors. The results of the survey can be found HERE.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

2025-2026 Healthcare Milestones

Medical Sector Highlights - Public Sector (HSA)

• Improving Access & Patient Experience
  • Upgraded patient call centre reduced wait times and improved service.
  • Achieved 90.2% patient satisfaction.
  • Won 13 awards in "Best of Cayman" awards.
• Expanding Access to Care
  • Urgent Care now operates 7 days a week.
  • Increased physician availability in Eastern Districts.
  • Expanded specialist services in Sister Islands, including oncology and paediatrics.
• Maintaining Clinical Excellence
  • Pathology Laboratory (Grand Cayman & Cayman Brac) achieved JCI reaccreditation
• Strengthening Emergency & Critical Care
  • Established EMS base in Bodden Town, improving response times.
  • Recruited key specialists, including a consultant internist and neonatologist

• Expanding Clinical Services & Infrastructure
  • New dialysis unit in West Bay (August 2025) improving access to treatment.
  • Installation of CBCT scanner at Faith Hospital (Cayman Brac), enabling advanced 3D diagnostics.

Private Sector Growth & Medical Tourism

• Expansion of Tertiary Care – Health City Cayman Islands
  • Opened a US$100M+ super-specialty hospital, Health City Camana Bay
  • Features include:
    • Cancer care centre
    • Maternity & Level 3 NICU
    • Emergency pavilion and critical care unit
    • Expanded robotic-assisted surgery programme
  • Radiation Oncology Centre operational since 2023.
  • Inaugurated in 2024 as a Level 1 trauma centre.
  • Introduced advanced treatments including:
    • Bone marrow transplantation
    • CAR-T cell therapy
• Maternal & Neonatal Milestones
  • First births recorded (March 2025) at Health City Camana Bay’s new state-of-the-art obstetrics facility.
  • Features private, fully equipped birthing suites and specialised NICU care.
• Innovation in Dementia Treatment – Doctor’s Hospital
  • The introduction of drug Donanemab in July 2025 for early dementia and Alzheimer’s care, positions Cayman at the forefront of treatment in the Caribbean for neurodegenerative disease.
• Future Development – Centre for Health & Wellness
  • Planned by Dart for Camana Bay (opening 2027).
  • Five-storey, 110,000 sq ft integrated facility to provide a centralised hub combining medical and wellness services.

Key Healthcare Statistics at a Glance

• The leading cause of death in the Cayman Islands in 2023 was cardiovascular disease at 27% of all deaths
• The number of health professionals at the George Town Hospital increased from 705 to 810, and at Faith Hospital in Cayman Brac from 63 to 64
• Immunisation coverage for children aged 0-24 months decreased by 4% from 2022
• Outpatient and casualty visits at government health facilities rose sharply from 116,035 in 2022 to 183,344 in 2023. (A large increase even allowing for population growth)
• Visits to district clinics rose significantly from 29,992 in 2022 to 59,115 in 2023
• Ambulance calls increased notably from 10,528 in 2022 to 12,865 in 2023
  
  You can find a wealth of important statistics representative of the Cayman Islands from the Compendium of National Statistics 2023 here.