Medotel construction expected to start in December

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has approved construction plans for a modern medical hotel (medotel), starting in December this year.
On Wednesday, Ambassador Gilbert Boustany brought a team of doctors – including a specialist – to Cabinet in order to share their findings on constructing a wellness project in the Coolidge area.
The objective of the mega project, according to the Cabinet notes, is to promote medical tourism to Antigua by the wealthy from the United States, the Middle East, South America and Europe.
Lionel Max Hurst, the government’s Chief of Staff, said the project will provide procedures that are not available at the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre (MSJMC).
“This is a kind of the special hospital that will be open to men and women who are primarily seeking plastic surgery and other kinds of interventions that are not currently undertaken at the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre,” Hurst explained during Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.
The project is expected to be completed within 18 months and will cost more than US $350 million to construct and to equip the hotel with cutting-edge equipment.
Although the proposed hospital is not intended to receive or treat patients originating within Antigua and Barbuda, Hurst said the project will train and employ hundreds of specialist nurses, administrative staff, and other kinds of hospitality workers, including Antiguans and Barbudans.
The broad terms of a Memorandum of Understanding has been verbally agreed to by the government and the project’s lawyer is expected to draft the Memorandum, with a sub-committee of Cabinet in charge of reviewing and signing the document.