(Seychelles News Agency) - The Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute from Kerala, India, is looking to partner with the Seychelles’ Ministry of Health in the areas of health care, education, and research.

In a conference last week, the chief executive of the hospital, Benny Joseph, said, “We are going to hold discussions with the minister to see if there are specific areas where we can offer our help.”

The hospital “is willing to offer its facilities for Seychellois patients sent by the government for overseas treatment,” said Joseph. He added that a partnership could also be made whereby the Jubilee Mission Medical College can make arrangements to send its specialist doctors whenever the government of Seychelles requires.

Speaking to SNA via email on Friday, the Seychelles’ Minister of Health, Jean-Paul Adam said, “As part of our strategy, we are still talking and in negotiations with other hospitals abroad to send our patients for overseas treatment.”

Set up as a dispensary in 1952, the Jubilee Mission Medical College is considered to be a pioneering institution in health care and education in South India and its motto is ‘Service with Love.’ It offers a range of medical services and treatments, including anesthesiology, dentistry, orthopaedics, psychiatry, dermatology, general surgery, general medicine and unique services such as snake bite treatment and burns treatment.

It also provides single and deluxe category of inpatient rooms to offer you a comfortable stay with amenities including multi-cuisine menu, room service, and laundry service. During hospital admission, one attendant is permitted to stay along with the patient in the room. The hospital can also facilitate hotel accommodation in close proximity of the hospital for larger families.  

Joseph said that the college section of the hospital is renowned to be one of the best in South India which can offer training for Seychellois nurses, doctors and other health professionals.

The management team of the college at the press conference last recent. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

Training of nurses is an area that the health ministry said it will explore.

“Since the hospital has a special and credible facility to train nurses the ministry will be looking into how the hospital can benefit in that area.”

Adam added that “cost-wise the hospital price for treatment is very affordable compared to some foreign hospitals that we are dealing with” but that “before an agreement is signed with the Jubilee Hospital, we need to visit the facilities to ensure that it meets all the criteria we are looking for as a country.” 

Although there is an increase in specialised treatment in Seychelles, there remain certain procedures by specialists that are not available locally. The island nation is currently sending over 200 patients per year for specialised overseas treatment, mainly in countries such as India and Sri Lanka. 

The visit of the hospital management to Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, was encouraged by the professor and head of the department of surgical oncology at the hospital, Sreekumar Pillai.

Pillai said that followed an encounter and treatment of two Seychellois patients, who introduced the island to him. He then thought that it would be a great potential partner.

The total outpatient of the college per day is 1800-2300 and the total staff strength is 3,000. 

Speaking to SNA, Gerry Souris, who accompanied one of the two patients that were treated at the hospital, said that the cost for treatment is very cheap and the service has been number one since day one.

Souris said that the hospital has all the facilities that one could require. He said that the patients he went with has fully recovered and she will be going back soon for a checkup.

While in Seychelles, the hospital's team will also meet with the Roman Catholic Bishop and the vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles.