$170 Million Medical Tourism Facility for Jamaica’s St James

With the help and agreement of investment promotions agency, Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), American Global MD (AGMD) has agreed to build the country’s first luxury medical tourism destination clinic.

The deal is the first result of Jamaica’s new health and wellness tourism policy that seeks to lay out the framework for positioning Jamaica as the newest destination for medical and wellness tourism. The policy came about after a Jampro study of the industry’s potential was completed in 2011, with the assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The Jamaican government has just agreed to help develop the local medical tourism industry and will be establishing a steering committee with major industry stakeholders to guide the finalization of the policy and regulatory framework.

AGMD is a consortium of American trained doctors and investors, all who have Jamaican links as a result of having previously studied or practiced in the country. AGMD will build a 200-bed hospital and medical clinic that will target the North American and Caribbean markets; delivering services including elective surgery, rehabilitation and naturopathy.

It will be 12 to 18 months before the $170 million project breaks ground. It has yet to get construction approvals or have the design completed. Under the first phase of the project, a 50 to 75-bed clinic will be built to offer cosmetic surgery, bariatric services and dentistry. It will be in the St James area, but the site is yet to be selected. Local company Implementation is the project manager and they advise that they still have to do the design development process and submission for building permission; In Jamaica that can take anywhere up to 18 months.

Source: International Medical Travel Journal