“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” – Proverbs 27:12

Last weekend, while attending a  meeting in Miami, I had the unexpected opportunity for a one day visit to the Health City hospital in the Cayman Islands, as an international patient. Health City Cayman Islands embodies the vision of the world-renowned heart surgeon, humanitarian and health care visionary, Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty from India.

The Miami meeting was to refine arrangements for the 2019 Caribbean Media Exchange (CMEx) Leadership awards fundraising event to be held on Saturday, December 14 at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel – www.cmexmedia.org.

CMEx is my son Bevan’s US-based nonprofit whose mission is to “support and develop the ability of the media, government, the travel and tourism industry and communities to consider the importance of tourism in sustainable development, while lending a hand to the communities involved by sharing relevant expertise, financial and in-kind assistance.”

Since its inception in October 2001, CMEx mounted a score of of interactive conferences which matched journalists from the Caribbean, North America and Europe with representatives of the government, business, hospitality and development sectors to discuss how tourism policies could improve the lives of Caribbean people. The last conference was held in St. Thomas in 2011. I have been fortunate to have participated in them all.

The upcoming event is the first in a new series of annual awards and fundraising events to expand upon the more modest award ceremonies of the past. The beneficiaries of next Saturday’s fundraising event will be the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Education Foundation (established 1986) and the Errol & Nita Barrow Educational Trust (established 1989). Incidentally, the plan is to resume  the popular traditional CMEx conferences plan in 2020.

Having started the meeting early on Sunday morning until the wee hours of Monday morning (with appropriate breaks) and resuming early on Monday morning after a sound sleep and an exercise interlude, it was clear that we were going to finish our business by late Monday afternoon. Bevan investigated rebooking return tickets to get us back to our home destinations on Monday night, a day earlier than expected. This was appreciated by all.

However, for me there was a pleasant surprise. Bevan used the opportunity to take me to Health City Cayman Islands hospital for a unique father and son experience.

Given our midnight arrival, we stayed in the capital city of George Town and were able to return to our respective homes 24 hours later.

We registered at the hospital at 8.30 am, expecting to have breakfast at the deservedly popular in-house restaurant. Instead the doctor summarily summoned us his office and began the investigations. After reviewing our medical histories we were whisked into the clinic to be evaluated and to discuss the results with the doctor.

After this wonderful experience of medical professionalism, at reasonable cost, we got to the restaurant after midday for brunch. Dedicated to disproving the rumours about hospital food, the menu offered a tasty choice of Indian, Chinese or Caribbean food.

We made the journey back to the airport in less than an hour and arrived comfortably in time for our 3.30 p.m. departure to Miami.

The experience at Health City was exemplary. If ever you get the opportunity to visit Cayman Islands, plan for an executive medical or other investigations and you will benefit from skilled doctors working in teams while practicing holistic individual care. And with just one total bill for the entire all-inclusive experience! Hats off to the team at Health City Cayman Islands – a true Caymanian and Caribbean treasure!