Published On:Wednesday, August 11, 2010

By David F Allen Jr

IN what may be the first approval of its kind, 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 multinational company will service clients traveling to The Bahamas for medicine and treatment at the medical facility.

Medical tourism is a central feature of the Bahamas' future tourism expansion strategy. It is anticipated to act as a functional nexus between The Bahamas and other nations, bringing their citizens to our shores for reasons other than sand, sun and sea.

There are several reasons a company would consider opening a medical facility in The Bahamas. The company may be prohibited by legislation in its home country from providing a medicine or treatment to its clients. It would use the medical facility to service clients from within The Bahamas, where there are no laws on the books prohibiting the medicine or treatment. Further, the company may be restricted by a competing company's intellectual property rights in its home country. It may attempt to sidestep a patent's reach by offering the patented medicine or treatment from an alternate jurisdiction such as The Bahamas. Also, there may be costly and onerous regulatory requirements in the company's home country related to a medicine or treatment, which can be avoided by setting up shop in The Bahamas.

Many companies offering medical tourism facilities are currently operating and servicing American clients out of Mexico. The Bahamas must redirect the international clientele to its shores by informing the world it's open for business in the global medical tourism market. A big advantage The Bahamas has for providing medical tourism over competing jurisdictions in the Caribbean is its proximity with the United States.

The Approval Process

In applying for approval of a multinational company to operate a medical facility in The Bahamas, the first step taken is to determine whether the offered medicine or treatment is legal in The Bahamas. Once research of the requisite legislation (the Dangerous Drugs Act and its subsidiary legislation etc.) is complete, the Attorney making the application gives the green or red light to the multinational company by way of a legal opinion.

The next step is incorporating a Bahamian company which is owned by and acts as a subsidiary of the multinational company. The proposed name of the Bahamian company is reserved, and the Bahamian company is incorporated.

Another important step is to 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 medicine or treatment. Submitting an application to register a trademark in The Bahamas is a relatively inexpensive and speedy process and a legal practice area that is likely to increase in importance in The Bahamas in the near future. 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. Once its trademarks are registered, a company may publicly use its names and logos; the names and logos are protected from competing companies using the identical or similar names or logos.

The final step is to submit the application to the Bahamas Investment Authority. The application consists of a cover letter and completed project proposal form, along with 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 Health Care Facility License.

Bahamas Law Chambers endeavors to provide clients with affordable legal service of the highest standard. It was very pleased with the outcome of its medical tourism application and anticipates a very bright future for the medical tourism industry in The Bahamas.