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.
- Pre-Acute Care – this consists of Public Health Services, Primary Care, Pharmacy Services, Laboratory Services and Diagnostic Imaging Services.
- Acute Care – includes Urgent Care, Accident or Emergency Care, Inpatient General Hospitals and Medical Tourism.
- 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 Law (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. According to the Economics & Statistics Office (ESO), The Cayman Islands Government provides health insurance plans to approximately 21% of the population. 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.
Worldwide, the Ministry of Health’s research has confirmed that 30% of all adults are classified as obese, whereas the other 70% of the population are overweight. Nonetheless, obesity continues to exist as a worldwide concern, especially in the Cayman Islands. Analysis of Caymanian healthcare data in schools found that, among children aged 4-6 years old, 16% were overweight. According to Simone Sheehan, Hospital Dietitian with the Cayman Islands Hospital, we cannot tackle obesity in Cayman without developing, planning, and firmly implementing obesity prevention strategies. This will have to, first, begin with prioritising an overhaul of food options for those at school age, as well as ensuring their participation in regular exercise (i.e. Physical Education classes).
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2020 Healthcare Milestones at a Glance
- The HSA now offer Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS)
- The HSA also opened a sleep laboratory in the Cayman Islands, assisting and treating those with sleeping difficulties and disorders.
- In July 2020, the HSA lab conducted 10 years worth of lab testing in 3 months.
- Health City Cayman Islands (HCCI) was named one of the world’s most innovative healthcare providers by Fortune magazine.
- Cayman continues to receive continual technological enhancements: advanced radiology services, computerised tomography (CTs), “no squeeze” digital mammograms, a 3.0 Tesla MRI machine, 3D and 4D ultrasounds, echocardiography, GI endoscopy and more.
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