Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands – This week marked another milestone for Health City Cayman Islands – and for the planning process in the Cayman Islands.

On Wednesday, November 21, plans for the innovative tertiary-care hospital and its associated facilities were submitted to the Cayman Islands Planning Department under a new, streamlined format called a Planned Area Development (PAD). The medical tourism hospital is the first project to submit a PAD application for approval. Health City representatives also submitted construction plans for the first phase of the hospital itself.

“The Department of Planning is pleased that the Health City application, including the first application for Planned Area Development, have now been submitted and anticipate them being considered by the Central Planning Authority in the near future,” said Director of Planning Haroon Pandohie.

The Planning Department introduced the PAD concept about two years ago. PADs are projects of more than 40 acres, with a minimum of three distinct uses, which are master planned as one development, rather than approving each facility separately. Its aim is to ensure that the larger developments are properly thought out from the beginning, avoiding potential problems and incompatibilities later on.

Wednesday’s application includes plans for the first phase of Health City Cayman Islands, a 140-bed hospital set to open in late 2013. The project will bring high-quality, low-cost healthcare services to the Cayman Islands, and create a world-class destination for medical tourism. The US$2 billion project is being built in phases over a 15-year period as a part of a 200-acre site in the High Rock area of East End.

“The application represents three years of hard work getting this project off the ground,” said Health City Cayman Islands representative Gene Thompson. “We are pleased with the great reception and co-operation we have received from the Premier, Minister of Health, Cayman Islands Government and the relevant departments and look forward to continuing to work together on this groundbreaking project.”

Wednesday also signaled the beginning of full site work at the East End facility. Preliminary work on access roads and temporary construction utilities has been under way for a few months. An official groundbreaking ceremony took place on August 27.

Health City local architect Burns Conolly, AIA of the Burns Connolly Group said it has been exciting to develop the first PAD application.

“These PAD master plans have to be thought out on all levels as they will set the parameters for development on the site for the next 20, 30, or 40 years,” said Mr. Conolly. “You have to consider everything from construction phasing, traffic growth, distribution of utilities, environmental issues, the relationship of each of the uses, to ultimately the quality of the spaces being created.

“Given that we are looking at 1.5 million square feet of building, with associated parking and services, it has to be done correctly up front.”

The fees for the PAD and planning applications submitted to the Planning Department totaled CI$160,000. The submission includes a detailed Development Statement addressing the parameters and guidelines of Health City Cayman Islands that covers plans for everything from management, road networks, and services infrastructure to landscaping and open spaces, density, and building design.

Once complete, Health City Cayman Islands will include a 2,000-bed tertiary-care hospital, a medical school facility, and an assisted living community. The multi-specialty hospital will provide services not widely available in the region such as open-heart and bypass surgery, angioplasty, heart-valve replacement, cancer treatment, and organ transplant.

The project is a joint venture between the Narayana Hrudayalaya Group of India, headed by renowned heart surgeon Dr. Devi Shetty, and Ascension Health Alliance of the United States, the country’s largest non-profit healthcare provider.