PAPHOS can look forward to getting a new world-class health centre offering a wide range of medical services to both local residents and foreign visitors.
An agreement between the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and Paphos Plantations Ltd (PPL) – a member of the Leptos Group – to develop the health centre was signed yesterday by Michalis Leptos, chairman of the Leptos Group, and Jeffrey Romoff, President and CEO of UPMC.
Under the agreement, PPL will build the new 100-bed hospital in the area between Paphos and Yeroskipou, as part of the “Neapolis” development by the Leptos Group. UPMC will manage this new hospital, as well as the existing 36-bed Iasis Hospital in Paphos.
UPMC is an integrated global health enterprise based in the United States, employing 50,000 employees worldwide and achieving US$8 billion in revenues in 2008. “UPMC is a natural partner for us in this ambitious undertaking”, said Leptos. “Despite the economic climate, we are confident that the new centre will be a success, filling the need for more healthcare options in Cyprus. In addition, these facilities will be well-positioned to attract patients from all over the Middle East and Europe as medical tourism grows throughout the region”, he added. Medical tourists are projected to bring in between 10 and 20 percent of the centre’s business.
UPMC’s services in Cyprus will include senior management for the hospitals, staff training, equipment procurement and implementation of modern information systems. It plans to develop medical services that are currently in short supply here, such as comprehensive cancer services. “The plan is to start with the 36-bed facility at Iasis Hospital which we will be converting over to a cancer centre. Over a two or three year period as the Neapolis hospital is being built, we will learn how things work in Cyprus and customise things as we need them”, said Charles Bogosta, President of UPMC’s International and Commercial Services Division.
The new hospital, to be completed in three to four years at an estimated cost of €93 million, will aim to develop centres of excellence in areas such as oncology, transplantation, cardiology, orthopaedics and minimally invasive surgery. The Leptos Group hopes it will form an integral part of its master-plan for Neapolis, which includes a university, research centre, office park, health club-spa, hotel, botanical garden and museum.
The projected cost of the whole Neapolis development is estimated at over €1.5 billion. Speaking at the press conference, Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis described it as “possibly the biggest private sector project ever in Cyprus, which fits in with the government’s economic policy of encouraging growth in new areas of services such as high quality healthcare and education. Although, we continue to support the more traditional sectors of economic activity, it is right that we should look for new ways to attract investment to Cyprus.”
He said that the government is “totally committed” to the hospital project, ensuring that all the necessary licences permits will be obtained as quickly as possible. He also seemed to suggest that the government may offer its guarantee to the project’s financiers: “We will also find the immediate and essential ways in which the government will help the banking institutions to finance this large project”.
The event certainly appeared to receive the government’s stamp of approval. Apart from Stavrakis, three other Ministers attended – Health, Commerce and Tourism, Communications and Works – as well as the US Ambassador, Archbishop Chrysostomos, Paphos Mayor Savvas Vergas, various deputies and other worthies. Following the press conference and signing, UPMC CEO Romoff went on to meet President Christofias.
