Dubai-based Aster DM Healthcare is all set to establish a US$350 million, 500-bed hospital in Grand Cayman.

Speaking at a press conference Monday morning, Premier Alden McLaughlin said the Cayman Islands government was entering into a partnership with Aster and would be executing a legal agreement relating to the project immediately following the briefing.

The new health facility, which will be built in phases over several years, will include a hospital, assisted-living accommodations and a medical university, and will provide medical care to both local patients and medical tourists, the premier said.

Dr. Azan Moopen, founder of Aster DM Healthcare, speaking via Zoom, said the first phase of the facility was expected to be commissioned within “the next two to three years”.

He said the facility would target the 1.4 million medical tourists who travel overseas for healthcare from the United States annually, as well as patients from Canada and countries throughout the Caribbean.

(Dr. Azan Moopan, founder, managing director and chairman of Aster DM Healthcare)

Aster has some 365 medical facilities across eight countries, employing more than 19,000 employees.

Moopen said his company had been looking to expand to other countries outside Asia and the Middle East, and were “in search of an ideal location and supportive government and associates to make this a reality”.

“When we visited the Cayman Islands and met the honourable premier and other senior leaders, we were greatly impressed by the business-friendly environment, the easy accessibility to the highest levels of government, and the transparency along with the quality-focussed approach,” he said.

This would be the second Aster Medcity set up by the group. One already exists in Kochi, Kerala, in southern India.

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Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A case has been registered and a probe launched into social media posts allegedly threatening a member of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s security team with consequences once the UDF comes to power, officials said on Sunday.

The Thiruvananthapuram City Cyber Police registered the case based on a complaint filed by Chief Minister’s security staff member Sandeep Sasidharan.

The Congress had earlier alleged that Sandeep and another officer, Anil Kumar, brutally assaulted two Youth Congress-KSU activists including using flower pot when they protested against the Chief Minister during the Navakerala Sadas programme in Alappuzha in 2023.

A subsequent probe was conducted against both officers, and the Crime Branch later gave them a clean chit.

Recently, following the conclusion of the state assembly election on April 9, several social media posts allegedly made by Congress, Youth Congress and KSU activists claimed that revenge would be taken once the LDF government is removed and the UDF comes to power.

Police said cases have been registered against Facebook accounts named Arun Rajendran, Tom Kuriakose, Yaser KP, Sony Panamthanam, Sarath Pillai, KSU Kanjiramkulam, Rahul John C and Youth Congress Battle.

According to the FIR, the complainant’s photograph and name were used in several social media posts threatening him with consequences and containing abusive language.

Police said the social media account holders have been identified and will soon be summoned as part of the investigation.

The case has been registered under Sections 296(b) (uttering obscene words causing public annoyance), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 3(5) (acts done by several persons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.