Medical travel is a central feature of the Bahamas’ future tourism expansion strategy. Bahamas Law Chambers has successfully obtained approval from the Bahamas Investment Authority for a multinational company to operate a medical facility in the Bahamas. The company will service clients traveling to the Bahamas for medical treatment.
There are several reasons a company would consider opening a hospital in the Bahamas. Many companies offering medical tourism facilities are currently operating and servicing American clients out of Mexico. The Bahamas seeks to redirect the international clientele to its shores by informing the world it is open for business in the global medical tourism market. A big advantage the country has over competing jurisdictions in the Caribbean is its proximity to the United States.
Any company wanting to set up on the islands needs to incorporate a Bahamian company and then register trademarks with the industrial properties unit of the Registrar General’s Department, in order to protect the multinational company’s intellectual property rights in names and logos associated with the offered treatment. Bahamas Law Chambers specializes in trademark applications and advises its corporate clients to register trademarks in their names and logos and the names and logos of their products to prevent competing companies and competing products from stealing market share. The final step is to submit the application to the Bahamas Investment Authority. The application must include a business plan and letter from a financial institution evidencing sufficient funds to finance the project. An integral document is the project proposal form, which requires the applicant to report on, amongst other things: land requirements, proposed start-up-date, management/personnel requirements, capital investment and employment projection. The applicant must show that the project will benefit The Bahamas, usually by way of employing Bahamians, and that it has extensive capital resources.
On the submission of a medical tourism application to the Bahamas Investment Authority, approval is subsequently sought from the Ministry of Health and its National Research Ethics Committee. Only with the Ministry of Health’s blessing can the project progress to be reviewed and decided by the Bahamas Investment Authority. Obtaining approval from the Bahamas Investment Authority is not an overnight process. The application may be delayed while being reviewed by the Ministry of Health and its National Research Ethics Committee. Bahamas Law Chambers received approval in a moderate amount of time and was very satisfied by the outcome and process as a whole. Once approval from the Bahamas Investment Authority is granted, the multinational’s Bahamian company must obtain exchange control approval from the Central Bank of The Bahamas, obtain a business license and open a bank account in a local banking institution. Their attorney must also apply for work permits for any non-Bahamian medical experts and personnel and apply for a healthcare facility licence.
Bahamas Law Chambers anticipates a very bright future for the medical tourism industry in The Bahamas and has revealed the name of the business as Ibocure.The Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) has given Miami based Ibocure a green light to operate in the Bahamas, with the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Health also welcoming the idea. The Ministry of Tourism will help with promoting the business in the context of the destination itself.
A second medical tourism firm is currently being vetted that is close to approval and other interested parties in the pipeline. Ibocure, will service clients travelling to the Bahamas for medical treatment. As long as the company can raise funds quickly, Ibocure ‘s addiction rehabilitation centre could open up in western New Providence as early as February 2011. Ibocure is offering a revolutionary drug called Ibogaine that is said to eradicate substance abuse in less time than other addiction treatments. While the drug has not been approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, the company will be allowed to administer the drug in the Bahamas.
The company chose the Bahamas for its addiction rehabilitation centre because of its proximity to the US and its ability to meld the healing process with a relaxing atmosphere. The company is considering a location only feet from the beach in an area just east of Sandyport. Ibocure’s Bonnie Levengood says, “We want people to feel relaxed. We are attracting very high-end people and it will be expensive to go, so we want to create an idyllic location by the ocean so they feel like they can relax and attract their friends and family. It takes a stressful situation and makes it relaxed and therapeutic. We will take a very Zen-like approach to the development of the centre which will be a spa-like world class facility.” Investors have already raised $2million for the start-up of the centre that will be able to house at least 15 patients at a time.
©2024 All rights reserved LaingBuisson 
