Business View Caribbean October/November 2018

46 47 whether it remains on target in achieving its goals. “We review our mission, our vision, and values every two or three years to reflect the new realities that we face because the population is increas- ing, and the types of clientele that we’re retaining and no longer sending outside of this country, is increasing,” Levac reveals. “As a critical mass of people develops, it becomes cheaper for us to now treat them here rather than send them abroad for treatment.When that critical mass is achieved,we accommodate that; we grow, and therefore, there is a need to review our mission, vision, and values on a cyclical basis.” Patient volume at TCI Hospital has increased significantly over the last fewyears, far exceeding projections when it opened in 2010. For ex- ample, the hospital had 25 dialysis patients then and a dialysis unit that was built to handle a slightly larger number.“We bought machines,we recruited staff and it was project- ed back in 2010 that by the end of our contract,we would have about 50 dialysis patients,” says Levac.“In 2018,we have 53 dialysis patients that we treat. So we’ve doubled the volume in eight years when it was projected at the time, using the best estimates possible, that it would take 25 years to do that.That’s one example among several.” “The population is increasing and getting older, our obstetrics cases are skyrocketing, so yes, there’s a need for a review of how things are done here,”he continues,“and we are currently in discussions with the TCI government that feels that there’s already been quite enough done on healthcare, thank you verymuch. So, it’s a very dynamic and difficult discussion that we’re having now. However,we understand that the government has its own financial challenges; but we, as the private manager and owner of this hospi- tal, are being placed in a situation whereby, there is a huge increase in the volume of activity that is well-documented; nobody disputes it. So, we feel it is now time to have an increase in funding, an increase in facilities, and to use the built- in expansion space that was ap- proved and built back in 2008. But that takes resources.” TCI Hospital’s medical staff is a mixture of natives of the island and, especially where doctors are concerned, newcomers from across the globe. “The government of TCI has a program whereby it subsidizes students who are resi- dents who have potential,” Levac explains. “They are funded by the TCI government and sent to uni- versities around the world, but mostly the U.K., because Turks & Caicos Islands are a territory of the TCI HOSPITAL