Medical tourism to get boost
Tuesday September 20 2011 | 06:43 AM

HEALTH MINISTER Donville Inniss says a new private hospital earmarked for Barbados will provide a much needed injection for the country’s medical tourism drive.

The $160 million private facility planned for the site of the old St Joseph Hospital is expected to open late 2013 or early 2014, and Inniss said the investment by American World Clinics Ltd (AWC) fell in line with Government’s new health and wellness tourism policy.

“We are seeking to offer Barbados as the destination of choice for those seeking health care services, but the realization is that we need additional facilities to make that happen,” he told the DAILY NATION.

“It is not something that Government can or should drive and, hence, we are very happy to note that through the efforts of Invest Barbados we’ve been able to attract the interest of these American investors in the property, because it means that they would bring most of the clinical skills required as well as the patients necessary, and they will drive it.”