A multi-specialty medical practice offering a fresh approach to healthcare services is set to open in Hamilton within weeks.

The Bermuda Medical Specialties Group practice, located in a 6,500-square-foot space on the third floor of Reid Hall on Reid Street, will become one of the largest healthcare centres on the island.

Entrepreneur Marico Thomas and his fiancee Arlene Basden, the former director of hospitalist services at the Bermuda Hospitals Board, are the investors behind the project.

About 20 people, including six to eight doctors, will be employed by the multi-specialty practice that resembles a “mini hospital”, Mr Thomas said.

Work to decorate and outfit the complex care practice is well under way and Mr Thomas intends to open its doors in March. It is located above the Annex Toys store and accessed via the glass door entrance below the prominent clock at 3 Reid Street.

Well known as the owner of Four Star Pizza and the Glaze bakeries, Mr Thomas said he had been working on the project and consulting with healthcare experts, in Bermuda and overseas, for eight years.

He has identified multiple problems with healthcare services in Bermuda that contribute to dissatisfaction among patients, doctors and administrators alike, and unnecessarily high costs.

Deploying his own entrepreneurial flair, with a focus on problem-solving and customer service, Mr Thomas has set out to address those issues. With the guidance and healthcare expertise of Dr Basden, he has designed the new facility to address some of the system’s fundamental weaknesses.

“There has to be a better way to do healthcare services, to reduce costs and improve outcomes and to make people smile in the process,” Mr Thomas said.

“Many people here are trying to nudge the needle to improve things, but we believe that this will be meaningful.”

Features of Bermuda Medical Specialties Group will include nine examination rooms, three assessment rooms, a waiting area, a meeting room and three sleep monitoring labs. The practice will also boast diagnostic and monitoring equipment for circulatory and respiratory conditions, an ultrasound scanner, as well as a procedure room.

There is also a demonstration room fitted with a video camera, to be used for educational purposes. Presentations made in there can be broadcast via the 16 television screens around the facility.

Bermuda Medical Specialties Group will have an electronic medical records system, enabling doctors to quickly access information on particular patients and also to build up a database that can help doctors assess the success of a certain type of treatment with various types of patients, for example.

Some of the equipment will be new to Bermuda, Mr Thomas believes. One example is a “BodyBox”, a device used to measure lung condition, which can help to diagnose respiratory issues.

Such equipment can help to avoid wrong diagnosis of a condition such as asthma, which could mean a patient being prescribed treatment and medication they do not need.

The infusion clinic is another feature that has cost-saving potential for the island’s healthcare system.

“Bermuda is one of the most expensive places in the world to have IV [intravenous] infusion therapy,” Mr Thomas said. “Because the Emergency Room at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital has limited space, people can be kept waiting for beds because infusions are scheduled. We can relieve some of the burden on the hospital and we will offer it here at a much reduced rate.”

In general, the new facility will aim to offer complex care, with focus on the preventive and a mission to provide national healthcare solutions.

Mr Thomas said: “As the population ages, we will have more people with complex issues — more than one thing going on. For those people, this will be the place to come.”

Dr Basden, who will be the facility’s medical director, said that, with a treadmill and heart-monitoring equipment, the practice would be capable of checking patients over “from bottom to top” to detect circulation issues that could flag up risk of a heart attack, for example.

Mr Thomas said: “The way our healthcare system works is that people go to the doctor, who may then refer them to a cardiologist if they’re at risk of a heart problem. It may take a few weeks to get an appointment. It’s inefficient and expensive to for people to be referred from one place to another.

“Here, you can be scanned for a circulation issue and if you have a skin issue or a foot issue as well, we can deal with that too, all under one roof in one visit.

“Too many people in Bermuda get sent overseas for treatment for issues that we can address here.

“People think the insurance company pays for it, so it’s free. There’s the cost of the hotel, meals, sometimes a companion, and it’s not free, because the cost of that will be included in next year’s insurance premiums.

“We believe we are capable of having an impact on reducing the national cost of healthcare.”