Sooo ... is the early excitement about Dr Shetty's plan for Medical Tourism as misplaced as it was for "Dr" Syed?
The University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) has announced the appointment of Dr. Hassan Syed as its new President, following a rigorous search and selection process, which was undertaken in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Training, Employment, Youth, Sports & Culture.
The Education Minister, Hon. Alden McLaughlin, expressed his delight at Dr. Syed's appointment by saying that, "This heralds the beginning of an exciting new chapter in UCCI's history.
He added, "We are delighted to have an education professional of Dr. Syed's caliber at the helm of this Caymanian institution, especially one who is so accomplished in the local community.
The Ministry looks forward to a long and productive partnership with Dr. Syed and the University College".
That all turned out well didn't it? The "partnership" was neither notably long nor productive.
Behind the blizzard of bullshit from McLaughlin lay a simple truth: Syed was bought and paid for (at quite some expense as it turned out) to lower standards to enable the 'Graduation' of slack-jawed children of dimwitted voters. A good attendance record was all you needed to show up in the hired academic hat and gown and get the Graduate photo that proved to your Grandma's satisfaction that you were a genius.
Shetty actually is a Doctor (MD) - whereas Syed was a pretend "My Little Pony" Phd so there's one cause for optimism.
But whatever is supposed to be cooking here I will bet my right testicle (Mrs B already has the left one) it isn't what is finally served up. Land deals - yes. Some foundations being laid - yes. Money coming in from investors - yes.
But then what?
The business model that works in low cost India isn't going to translate well to high cost Cayman - the production line high-thoughput approach isn't a good match with the caribbean ambiance either. But rather than build a smaller facility and learn what could work it's going to be a 2,000 bed hospital for cardiac surgery from the get go.
What worries me is the plethora of crowd pleasing distraction statements now flowing from Dr Shetty that make him sound oh so political.
In recent media presentations the "Heart Factory" morphs into a general hospital which could mean general world class medical care right here on Cayman (just like UCCI was going to be the new Harvard). The prospect of large scale medical training opportunities for Caymanians is bandied about. Other jurisdictions wanted this facility but Shetty's heart is set on Cayman. Why is any of this old flannel needed if the original business model stands up?
Is Mac going to cash in on the land deal whatever happens next?
Is Shetty's heart in the right place or will he cash in on his investors and bail out?
Or am I being heartless to even think this way?
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