Medic makes J$20-m bet on healthy market for diagnostic services
Published:Sunday | December 19, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Avia Collinder, Business Writer
Surgeon and sports medicine specialist, Dr Winston Dawes, is tapping medium to large businesses to recover and turn a profit on his $20-million investment in an ultra-modern diagnostic-health facility that promises to cut employers' health-insurance payments for staff.
Mahogany Health and Fitness Limited, with head offices at the Winchester Business Centre in Kingston, is attempting to get businesses turned on to the concept of investing in physical-health testing for their staff.
Dawes' challenge is to convince employers that this is a cost-effective way of reducing later and higher costs associated with health-insurance payments for treatment of illnesses.
Other costs which the facility seeks to alleviate include the productivity decline which comes with absenteeism and presenteeism, which is described as an employee's lack of performance due to illness even though he or she may be at work.
Dawes, the president of the Sports Medicine Association of Jamaica, retired as chief medical officer at the May Pen Regional Hospital after 39 years, is a former chairman of the Institute of Sports Limited, and is ex-chairman of the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sports.
Not only has the medic poured much of his personal savings into the venture, he was able to secure an undisclosed amount of the J$20 million start-up cost as a loan from the Bank of Nova Scotia.
The business was launched only this month with the start-up capital having been poured into equipment, staff, and office refurbishing. The health- diagnostic firm employs a staff of three, including a medical specialist and a technician.
Operating costs
Operating costs are now limited to loan servicing, lease payment, salaries, and the disposables used during testing.
Tests done on what are said to be state-of-the-art equipment assess overall health and fitness, check body fat, measure stress levels, determine heart functionality, and assess the condition of the prostate gland, liver, uterus, and other organs for signs of abnormality that could lead to illness.
Giving an example, Dawes said, a machine known as the Jawon segmental analyser, just approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in May this year, measures the ratio of fat to muscle in the legs, arms, and trunk, as well as determines the level of fat around the organs and other parts of the body. This test, he pointed out, can alert individuals to possible health risks so that corrective measures can be prescribed before chronic illnesses develop.
A distinct selling point for Dawes is his assertion that he is the only practitioner in Jamaica and among few in the Caribbean to have integrated available medical technology with a health- and lifestyle- management programme.
The business is also said to provide test results much faster than some laboratory testing, as well as information ranging from a person's fitness status to chronic health issues within a short time span.
The equipment in use includes the EIS Whole Body Scan, which identifies stress indicators of the body in five minutes; the HbA1C does testing of the amount of glucose bound to the haemoglobin of the red blood cells, providing an indication of whether a person's blood-sugar levels are being properly controlled; and the Sphygmocor, for checking central blood pressure.
"Inception of the project was three years ago, but we are only just now getting off the ground officially," said the medical entrepreneur.
Targeting hotels
Mahogany Health and Fitness is also targeting hotels which are interested in offering scientific spa services to their guests, done for $15,000 per individual for all three scans.
Dawes said he has held talks with operators of several hotels in Jamaica which are now setting up new spas, and hopes that they will add his medical programme to their service offerings.
The equipment is mobile and can be taken from location to location as needed, he pointed out.
The company is also partnering with Gymkhana health studio for therapeutic services as much of the follow-up prescriptions after diagnosis involve age-appropriate exercise.
While optimistic about the business prospects, Dawes, who said he unsuccessfully tried his hand at farming before, has brought a realistic approach to the new business.
"The major challenge was trying to have individuals see the value of good health versus paying for illness," he said.
Although some firms have been using the service for a small number of staff, so far, companies in general have not been quick to send workers for testing, Dawes said. He cites reluctance of local insurance companies to pay for the tests as a drawback to the business.