Tufton calls on private sector to support health tourism
WESTERN BUREAU:
HEALTH MINISTER Dr Christopher Tufton is challenging Jamaica’s private sector to come on board to develop the country as a hub for health tourism.
Addressing a recent press conference during a visit to the Cornwall Regional Hospital [CRH] in Montego Bay, St James, Tufton said he has already approached stakeholders in the western city
“We should explore the possibility of a health tourism offering that gives a service, or two or three, that we develop an expertise in here in Jamaica, that leverages the existing tourism product that we have for rehabilitation and therapy, at the hotels, the beaches, the cottages, and the golf courses. It happens in other jurisdictions, and I think we have created a fertile environment for that to take place now,” said Tufton.
“I think it rightfully ought to be directed, or certainly financed, with funds that involves private capital for returns on that capital, and can be guided with some support from persons like us in public health where we know the market and the need,” Tufton added.
“I am prepared as minister to engage, with my team, a conversation around that initiative. Indeed, I have already suggested it to some of the interests here in the capital city of Montego Bay, because I think it is a great opportunity and it is a way to leverage and expand the tourism product.”
HEALTH CITY
Tufton cited the Cayman Islands’ Health City tertiary-care hospital as an example of what Jamaica’s potential medical tourism industry can accomplish.
He also noted that such promotions could help alleviate issues such as the United States’ Level Three travel advisory on January 23 this year, which advised against travelling to Jamaica due to crime and medical service issues.
“If you go to the Cayman Islands, where the Health City campus is, Cayman’s population is between 60,000 and 80,000 people, and Jamaica’s is three million. We carry in far more tourists in terms of numbers, we have far more tourism offerings for leisure, and the Health City serves a regional market, not just Caymanians, but people flying in on their private jets for services such as knee replacements, stent implants, and plastic surgery,” Tufton outlined.
“The recent advisory by the United States, which I am sure would be negative for Jamaica, unfortunately so, could also be addressed if we expanded the capacity for private arrangements where overseas insurance can be accepted and where arrangements can be made between hotels and these tourists coming in, once they’ve booked, to give them greater assurance,” Tufton added.
BOOST TOURISM
The matter of health tourism for Jamaica has been touted from as far back as 2010 as a potential revenue earner for Jamaica and a booster for the local health sector.
At that time, Dr Patric Rutherford, head of Andrews Memorial Hospital in St Andrew, charged that the Government’s reluctance to slash customs duties on medical supplies was stifling the prospects of health tourism.
In 2021, a major health tourism, healthcare delivery, training, research and development facility was identified as a keynote project for Montego Bay to be done over a five-year period, among plans at that time for enhanced collaboration between Jamaica and India.
The project, estimated at $40 billion and pioneered by the Montego Bay-based Bioprist Group, was supported by the Indian High Commissioner to Jamaica, Runsung Masakui.
More recently, in March 2023, Homer Davis, state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister West, called for Jamaica in general and Montego Bay in particular to start a campaign promoting and marketing the country as the Caribbean region’s healthiest destination, using events like the annual MoBay City Run [now the Jill Stewart MoBay City Run] to promote health and wellness tourism.
Meanwhile, Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association [JHTA] President Robin Russell told the briefing that the current rehabilitation of the CRH, which is slated for completion in 2026, will serve to boost tourism if overseas visitors to Montego Bay feel they can visit a readily available medical facility in cases of emergency.
“This is a great improvement and will be a great improvement for tourism, because one of the issues that we are having is safety. When we speak about safety, it is not just being safe on the road, but tourists will have incidents, whether heart issues, haematology [blood-based medical matters], whatever it is, and those issues are real. If we have facilities like this where people feel safe to come to, it will only enhance our product,” said Russell.
“I am also sure that with this, having a proper emergency facility, that other things will spin off, like medical tourism. Persons will feel more comfortable coming here and doing procedures, because those procedures won’t be as expensive. So even if they are doing them in a private facility, they know that they have a facility like this, that if an emergency happens, they will feel a lot safer,” Russell continued.