ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the realization of the touted benefits may only be realized within certain contexts, including the right regulatory framework. It also discusses planning for medical tourism in Barbados to provide a nuanced exploration of medical tourism's potential impacts in small island contexts. The most easterly country in the Caribbean archipelago, Barbados shares many elements of its colonial history and economic development with neighboring islands. However, the dominant focus on large, capital-intensive hospital projects and the export of a comprehensive range of medical services neglects to engage with smaller-scale instances of medical tourism. Barbados experience to date with medical tourism raises important considerations of the role that facility scale plays in shaping considerations of both the health equity and economic impacts of the sector. Tensions between developing a sector that is foreign versus locally operated and characterized by small- versus large-scale operations are informed by contextually relevant economic development considerations that are faced by small island states.