Health City Cayman Islands Awarded JCI Accreditation

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, May 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of Health City Cayman Islands' first anniversary, the Caribbean hospital has earned the prestigious Gold Seal of Approval from Joint Commission International (JCI), the worldwide leader in accrediting the quality of healthcare, cementing its ability to compete with peers abroad in the medical tourism industry.  Health City is only the second hospital in the Caribbean to receive JCI accreditation.

The accreditation commission's on-site evaluation of Health City Cayman Islands was carried out by a team of international healthcare specialists who visited the Cayman Islands last month.

Health City Cayman Islands is supported by two major healthcare organizations, Narayana Health Group of Hospitals and Ascension.  Dr. Devi Shetty Health City's Founder and Chairman of Narayana Health said JCI's endorsement of Health City's state-of-the-art clinical facilities and of the medical treatment provided by the hospital provided expanded credibility around the world.

"We have spent a lot of time carefully selecting and attracting some of the best doctors and surgeons - with world class supporting services - to our facility, so it is rewarding to see our efforts recognized with this accreditation by JCI," he said.

Health City's Facility Director and Head of Medical Services Dr. Chandy Abraham described JCI's approval as a historic achievement for Health City.

"In receiving the Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission International, Health City joins an elite club of top class hospitals around the world who have opened themselves to a voluntary peer review and have achieved the stringent and exacting standards of the JCI," he said.

"Health City Cayman Islands now operates on par with some of the most respected hospitals in the United States and around the world, considerably boosting our credibility and awareness among those people who live overseas looking to use our facilities.  By increasing our visibility to overseas patients in this way, we have placed the Cayman Islands firmly on the global stage when it comes to medical tourism. Patients can be assured of the same high class standard of care that they have come to expect in their home countries, but at far less cost to them."

Dr. Anthony R. Tersigni, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascension, the largest faith-based and largest not-for-profit health system in the United States, said Health City Cayman Islands offered a tremendous opportunity for Ascension to collaborate with Dr. Shetty and his colleagues at Narayana Health on new ways of providing high-quality care at a lower overall cost.

"The partnership holds the promise of helping Ascension live our Mission in a new and creative way by adapting what we learn to transform healthcare not just in the Cayman Islands, but around the world. This Joint Commission International accreditation is an important milestone in our journey."

Dr Abraham acknowledged that meeting the stringent accreditation standards set forth by JCI was attainable only with the coordination and cooperation of all staff members.

"Providing high quality, affordable healthcare is a team effort and one which gives all employees a feeling of pride and prestige to work in an accredited institution," he said.

"We opened ourselves up to JCI inspection teams because we are confident we have built a leading international medical facility staffed by world-class doctors attracted by the opportunities available at Health City to practise the best medicine of their lives," said Mr. Shomari Scott, Marketing Director of Health City Cayman Islands.

JCI is the international arm of The Joint Commission, the leading health care accreditor in the United States. Since 1994, JCI has been working with health care organizations, ministries of health, and global organizations in more than 90 countries. JCI has accredited and certified more than 410 public and private health care organizations in more than 45 countries since accrediting its first hospital in 1999.

The Joint Commission International Hospital Standards aim to stimulate continuous, systematic and organization-wide improvements in daily performance and in the outcomes of patient care.

About Health City Cayman Islands

Health City Cayman Islands, the vision of renowned heart surgeon and humanitarian Dr. Devi Shetty, is supported by two major healthcare organizations, Narayana Health and the U.S.-based Ascension. Narayana Health is one of the leading healthcare chains in India with 32 hospitals which offer high quality services which are affordable to all. Ascension, based in the United States, is that nation's largest faith-based and nonprofit health system, providing the highest quality care to all with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Health City Cayman Islands provides compassionate, high-quality, affordable healthcare services for all in a world-class, comfortable, patient-centered environment. Offering healthcare to international, regional and local patients, Health City Cayman Islands delivers excellence in adult and pediatric cardiology, cardiac surgery, orthopedics, pulmonology, medical oncology and pediatric endocrinology.   

For further information, visit www.healthcitycaymanislands.com.

About Ascension

Ascension (www.ascension.org) is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world's largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering person-centered care to all with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. In FY2014, Ascension provided $1.8 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. More than 150,000 associates and 35,000 affiliated providers serve in 1,900 sites of care - including 131 hospitals and more than 30 senior care facilities - in 23 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to healthcare delivery, Ascension subsidiaries provide a variety of services and solutions including physician practice management, venture capital investing, treasury management, biomedical engineering, clinical care management, information services, risk management, and contracting through Ascension's own group purchasing organization.

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SOURCE Health City Cayman Islands