In Pursuit of Excellence
Dr Amechi continues “I think its unfair to
expect Government to provide everything we
need in this department. To provide first world
health care should be the agenda of the private
sector. Let the private industry do the heavy
lifting. Government should not be expected to
provide this. So this is where we need private
investment that goes towards us reaching our
goals as a first class facility.
With an initial investment in the region of
$6million Dr Joe (as he is colloquially known)
now states that he wouldn’t walk away from the
place for anything less than $15m usd today.
Amechi states “Even though we are dealing
with health we are still a business and my
ideas about this are to start it/build it/grow it
and sell it.
house. At the moment we can do all the routine
blood work for any serious emergency and to
manage our inpatients. Specialized services
like tests for Lupus for instance, or some
other illness would still have to go to Trinidad
for testing but we have that covered. Pathology
on the other hand which is currently done at
the General Hospital, and is all about testing
tissues for Cancer for instance they could use
some help. But once again to do this privately
“
Other areas we would look to invest in
would include a mobile x-ray and ultrasound
machines so we can go to the patients and not have
to hump them around to different departments.
“Right now we need investment in terms of
our facility, expertise and equipment. We have
the land to increase the size of the facility so
in terms of infrastructure we can easily add
another 12 rooms to our existing 6 rooms and
12 bed facility.
Our lab at the moment could do with an
increase in space and we could certainly
benefit from the addition of a pathology unit in
costs a lot of money so that’s an area we would
be keen on for additional investment.
Other areas we would look to invest in
would include a mobile x-ray and ultrasound
machines so we can go to the patients and
not have to hump them around to different
departments.
SUCCESSES
Despite all the challenges SAMS face
they continuously try to stay on top of
the technological aspects of advances in
equipment.
SAMS were the first to bring a digital x-ray
machine to Grenada, They currently have
the only 64 slice CT scanner in the
entire Eastern Caribbean
whereas the industry
standard is still at
16 slice scanners.
“We have a multi place
Hyperbaric
Chamber
which is not only useful for
decompressing divers but is
also becoming very popular
for other treatments such as
carbon monoxide poisoning,
wound care, burns, Stroke
rehabilitation. It’s a great
help to our diving industry knowing that as
a top Dive destination in the world, we also
have our own Hyperbaric Chamber on island,
hence eliminating the need to be flown out to
Barbados or Trinidad in the event of a diving
accident.
Dr Joe also states that he has seen some very
impressive turnarounds using the Hyperbaric
Chamber for the treatment of Strokes. He
states, “There are 2 types of stroke, There
is the burst blood vessel and then there’s
the blocked blood vessel. The person with
the blocked blood vessel is the one that the
Hyperbaric Chamber can work miracles
for. The chamber helps get oxygen into the
bloodstream and combine with anti coagulants
can really help to dissolve blockages. We are
not in a position to perform brain surgery on
island to insert a brain stent for example, but
we have seen some marvelous results using
the Hyperbaric Chamber as it gets oxygen to
the brain without needing a blood supply.
“In fact, if you can get to us to within up to 8 hrs
of having this kind of stroke then we can really
make a very positive difference. The crucial
difference however between our Hyperbaric
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Chamber and others in the Caribbean, is that
we are the only chamber that is located at a
hospital. All the other chambers are stand
alone units located in various random places
so having it at a hospital obviously has huge
advantages, if someone is sick and they have
“
The crucial difference
however between our
Hyperbaric chamber
and others in the
Caribbean is that we are
the only chamber that is
located at a hospital.
“
Over the years we have built a strong
international reputation. We work with many
major international Insurance companies
who choose us as the preferred service
provider for their clients. Most of the major
Cruise ship lines, The British Government,
The US Peace Corps, The US Military. When
President Obama came to Trinidad we were
the preferred hospital who handled all their
medical issues for ground staff and the
entourage associated with a visiting President
from the USofA. Our reputation now is world
class so with that comes a premium price. Its
not about Dr Amecci; our reputation is SAMS
and we continue to add prestigous clients and
blue chip companies to our growing list of
customers.
INVESTMENT
“
that growth we need a good health system
here.
In Pursuit of Excellence
to go back and forth from chamber to bed and
not have to deal with ambulances or other
means of transporting patients too and fro.
Other onsite facilities at St Augustine’s
Medical Services include: An Operating
Theatre that performs regular eye surgeries
and many other major surgeries including
Laproscopic or key hole surgeries, so the
facility is well equipped to handle many
different types of surgery on site.
Coupled with a modern equipped Ambulance
service, on site Pharmacy, Out Patient clinic,
access to ALL the specialist Doctors on
island, and a thriving maternity unit that has
currently delivered somewhere in the region
of 800 babies so far, SAMS has certainly
contributed to the good health and wellness to
all who have visited.
www.businessgrenada.com
DR. LUTZ’ GREATEST
ACHIEVEMENT
“I think my Greatest
achievement has definitely
been how as a company we
have changed the face of health
care in Grenada. We’ve reset
the bar, raised standards and
as a result, raised expectations
of what good healthcare should
look like.
“We came first, then the General Hospital
expanded after seeing what we did.
People come here now and realize …Yes they
have to pay, but they are seen to in a timely
manner and do not have to wait all day to be
seen by some poor overworked doctor who may
have a number of issues and emergencies that
he’s dealing with, and is forced to work within
the confines of an underfunded institution.
This is what people have now come to expect.
THE FUTURE
“I’m all in favor of the proposed National
Health Scheme being introduced to the nation
as good health needs to be financed by the
people using it. This has obviously become
a necessity due to the fact that Government
cannot afford to pay for a state of the art health
system based on the current tax structures. So
alternative solutions need to be found for the
nations health.
“We at SAMS are poised & ready to work with
Government in whatever way we can, now and in
the future, to make a National Health Scheme
in Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique a
reality for all. BG
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