Health
City Cayman Islands instrumental in procurement

CAYMAN
ISLANDS (April 30, 2020) –
A shipment of 30,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits -vital
to the safety of front-line healthcare workers in the treatment of
COVID-19 patients - arrived in the Cayman Islands on Thursday, April
30. The chartered cargo flight was the result of much
behind-the-scenes work and a public sector/private sector partnership
between the Cayman Islands Government and Health City Cayman Islands.

The story of how the
equipment arrived in Cayman from China, with the help of an
Indian-owned hospital chain is a tale fraught with logistical and
political challenges, and some nail-biting plot twists.

PPE kits have been
hard to come by for many governments and healthcare facilities
worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the numbers of
suspected and confirmed cases of the virus increased dramatically
around the world and especially in populous countries such as the
United States, it became increasingly difficult for smaller
territories such as the Cayman Islands to source the in-demand
protective equipment.

The Cayman Islands
Health Services Authority procurement team, led by CEO Lizzette
Yearwood and CFO Dawn Cummings, was working tirelessly to acquire the
equipment but running short on options as time raced on.

To start with, full
PPE kits - which consist of a protective coverall, goggles, face
shield, KN95 mask, nitrile gloves and shoe covers, were almost
impossible to come by. Large quantities weren’t moving after being
ordered due to the size of demand and internal issues in China, where
most of the equipment is currently manufactured. Additionally, while
individual items such as KN95 masks or gloves were available
separately, the Cayman authorities could not access any full kits.
Larger countries were being given priority due to greater diplomatic
reach and buying power.

This
is where Health City came in.

“Understanding
the challenges globally in procuring these items, I reached out to
the Hon. Minister of Health Dwayne Seymour and Cabinet Secretary
Samuel Rose as well as Lizzette Yearwood and Dawn Cummings at the HSA
to understand if they needed any help. They explained that the
growing global demand for PPE kits as the severity of the crisis
increased in various countries put additional pressure on their
traditional suppliers and supply lines. After some discussion, we
realized how Health City could assist in procuring these vital
protective suits that medical personnel need when dealing directly
with COVID-19 patients,” said Health City Director of Business
Development Shomari Scott.

Scott
explained that Health City was strategically positioned to help in
this effort based on many years of partnership with the large
government-owned Chinese manufacturers through its parent company
Narayana Health, which had built relationships with these
manufacturers over the last decade and more.

“Due
to these over-a-decade-long partnerships, Health City was able to get
a quick production slot with the manufacturers ahead of much larger
countries. We were also able to procure the full kits, at a quantity
of some 30, 000. Additionally, we had the increased assurance of
working with the government manufactures to ensure we were getting
authentic and not counterfeit medical supplies. After Health City
started the procurement process, the Chinese government stopped the
majority of companies that had only recently started producing these
supplies in order to curb issues with the quality of the supplies.
Thankfully, Health City was well placed with one of the established
manufacturing companies that was approved to produce the authentic
goods,” Scott revealed.

However,
the story was far from over and there were still hurdles to overcome
in order to get the kits to Cayman’s shores.

The
usual transshipment methods were no longer working for such large
orders. Shipments from China typically come to the Cayman Islands
via Miami. However, at that point in time the U.S. Government had
begun seizing medical and PPE equipment manufactured in the US and
preventing the goods from leaving American borders due to the growing
medical crisis in that country. With this uncertainty looming and out
of an abundance of caution the decision was made to find another way.

Scott
explained, “Due to relationships with the manufacturer and
distributor in China we were able to charter a flight from Zhengzhou,
China to Grand Cayman. The original flight path was Zhengzhou through
Miami to Grand Cayman. Due to some uncertainty at the time with
shipments of certain medical supplies being seized in Miami, when we
were booking the charter flight the decision was made that a
different route would be best.”

The
new plan took the charter flight using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft from
Zhengzhou to Mexico before continuing on to the Cayman Islands.
However, then came another snag. The Boeing 787-9 is too large and
heavy to land at Grand Cayman’s Owen Roberts International Airport.
It could potentially break the runway if landing directly in Cayman.

So
from Mexico, after refueling and changing crew, it was decided that
the aircraft would then fly onwards to Kingston, Jamaica to land.
Based on the amount of freight on the aircraft – weighing over
17,000 kg and measuring 148 cubic meters, it would then have to be
broken down and reloaded into a B737 freighter plane which would then
make two back-to-back cargo trips from Jamaica to Cayman.

But
once that obstacle was cleared, yet another appeared on the path.

“When
we were getting ready to schedule the flight from Zhengzhou, we found
out that the airport no longer was in-network with the charter
company we were using based on some issues with the airport from the
week prior. So then we had to figure out how to get the shipment from
the warehouse to an airport in Shanghai. Eventually, we worked out
the packaging and driving of the cargo from Zhengzhou to Shanghai and
were on our way,” Scott narrated.

Yet
again, another major barrier arose.

“While
our medical supplies were being manufactured, the Chinese government
introduced a new rule that all medical supplies leaving the country
would need to be inspected by the government prior to leaving. This
was great on one hand as it gives a higher level of comfort with
regard to the quality of the supplies. However, it could have really
slowed us down as the inspectors could come anytime from one day to
14 days or longer after your cargo is ready to fly,” Scott
explained.

Luckily
Health City had planned for a five-day buffer between when the goods
were ready until the day the plane would depart. This was important,
as when booking a cargo plane if you miss the departure date then the
deposit payment would be forfeited.

Cabinet
Secretary Samuel Rose, who was instrumental throughout the
procurement process, took on even more of a prominent role at this
critical juncture. Rose worked closely with HE Governor Martyn Roper
and Head of the Governor’s Office Matthew Forbes to use their
diplomatic channels to help garner an inspection spot within five
days of delivery to Shanghai and the flight’s scheduled departure.

Finally,
the inspectors gave the seal of approval and the flight left China on
Tuesday, April 28. It reached Mexico, where it refueled and changed
crew and then arrived in Jamaica late on Tuesday night. The shipment
was broken down and loaded into a B737 freighter to make the first
trip to Cayman landing at 11:30am on Thursday, April 30. The plane
then offloaded, made a return trip to Kingston to get the remaining
load and flew back to Cayman with the last of the supplies at 3:30pm
the same day.

“It
was a long haul, but we at Health City Cayman Islands are happy to
use our resources to help the Cayman Islands get this vital
protective equipment for the country’s front line health workers at
this critical time. We are fortunate that our parent company was
well-placed to assist us, having experience with large-scale
emergency orders of medical equipment. It was this experience that
allowed us to jump into action. Receiving these PPE kits now is
extremely important as the Cayman Islands continue with a large-scale
testing and screening program as well as vital insurance if we were
to have an outbreak. We’ve spent countless hours, sleepless nights
and early mornings dealing with different time zones and all of the
logistical hurdles. But with the kits arriving here, it was all worth
it,” Scott said.

Health
City Cayman Islands is assisting the Cayman Islands Government and
the HSA with further shipments of medical equipment needed in the
fight against COVID-19 and the next two will arrive over the next two
weeks.

Scott
said, “Health City is proud to be able to collaborate with the
government and HSA in a national emergency like this. We just
celebrated our sixth year, and while the circumstances surrounding
that anniversary are far from ideal, we are genuinely honoured to
stand shoulder to shoulder with our government, Ministry of Health
and HSA at the front of the battle lines. We at Health City are ready
as always to serve in any capacity that we can to benefit the health
of these Islands’ people.”

Minister
of Health Hon. Dwayne Seymour was pleased with the results of the
public/private partnership.

He
said, “After realizing quite early on in the procurement process
that there may be problems with sourcing PPE kits for Cayman’s
frontline medical personnel due to the global shortage on the
production of these items, I gave my full endorsement to the HSA and
Health City Cayman Islands to work together on this vital effort.
Together, they focused on the key single purpose of securing this
critical protective gear for our frontline medical staff in the fight
against COVID-19. I am immensely grateful for their combined efforts
and extremely pleased to see how well these public and private sector
entities have been working in tandem. This success shows that
together we really can be Cayman strong.”

Video link: https://youtu.be/JM-dL0SsYuE

Captions:

About
Health City Cayman Islands

Health
City Cayman Islands, the vision of renowned heart surgeon and
humanitarian Dr. Devi Shetty, is supported by Narayana Health, one of
India’s largest private healthcare systems. Health City, only the
second hospital in the Caribbean to receive the Joint Commission
International's "hospital accreditation", provides
compassionate, high-quality, affordable healthcare services in a
world-class, comfortable, patient-centered environment. Offering
healthcare to local, regional and international patients, Health City
Cayman Islands delivers excellence in adult and pediatric cardiology,
cardiac surgery, cardiac electrophysiology, medical oncology,
orthopedics, sports medicine, pediatric endocrinology,
gastrointestinal, hepato-pancreato-biliary and bariatric surgery,
neurology, interventional neurology and neuro-diagnostics,
neurosurgery, minimally invasive spine surgery, gynecology, urology,
pediatric allergies, colorectal surgery, dental, sleep lab and
pulmonology services.