The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

DOCTORS Hospital Health Systems plans to re-open its Western Medical Plaza facility on September 1 after investing about $1.3 million in the project to-date, its president telling Tribune Business yesterday he is seeking to grow international patients from 16 per cent to 50 per cent of the patient mix.

Barry Rassin told Tribune Business:”We are scheduled to open on September 1. Things are going every well; it’s just that some of the specialised equipment is taking longer than we hoped.

“The manpower is another delay; making sure that we have the lab technicians, the x-ray technicians and the nurses we need. It still takes far too long to get permits and there’s not a big enough labour pool locally.”

  Mr Rassin added: “The building will be finished this month. The infrastructure we put in for the international patient programme is going very well ,so we should have the new website up and running by mid-August. That should really start the marketing for the international side.

“We have a lot of interest on that side, mostly because we are Joint Commission accredited. That gives them the feel of the quality we provide, and we are the only ones in the Caribbean, so that is a big boost for us.”

   The Blake Road-based facility fits right into the BISX-listed company’s medical tourism and international outpatient programme, given its proximity to Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) and relatively secluded location. With some 16 per cent of Doctors Hospital’s business coming from non-Bahamians, the BISX-listed health care provider is attempting to make serious inroads into that market and increase its proportion of foreign patients to 50 per cent.

   Mr Rassin said: “My goal is that 50 per cent of our business will be international patients. We are right now at about 16 per cent.I  would like to start with about 30 persons. If we can get some concessions, I could double that pretty quickly. We have ordered all the equipment. The unfortunate part is we have to pay a significant amount, $500,000 in Customs duty, on them.”

    Mr Rassin stressed that Western Medical would not only cater to international patients, stating:  “It’s not only international patients. We want to address the needs of those who live in the west with the emergency room that’s going to be open for two shifts a day initially and, once we get the volume, we will go to 24 hours.

“We also want to station one of our ambulances there, which will speed up the service to everyone living at that end of the island. We are expanding the availability of service to the western end of the island.” 

    Mr Rassin added: “I will be running the facility myself. We want to make sure the service there is like no other place you have ever seen. The treatment, the quality of care, the attitudes, everybody is going to be exceptional.”

Doctor’s Hospital closed Western Medical Plaza almost nine years ago due to a downturn in the economy. The company first attempted to sell it, but several potential deals fell through, and subsequently it chose to lease it out to other medical services providers.