HEALTH

Total investment of Rs 1.5 billion:

New Nawaloka complex opens on Nov. 18

Nawaloka Hospitals will open their new complex on November 18. This state of the art facility has a total investment of Rs 1.5 billion. “As a result of this expansion, Nawaloka Hospitals will now have a total floor area of 300,000 square feet, the new complex being 80,000 square feet; thus making Nawaloka Hospitals the single largest private hospital complex in the country”, said Chairman Nawaloka Hospitals, H.K. Dharmadasa.

Nawaloka Hospitals commenced construction of their new complex in September 2006, with a view to providing better and added facilities for their patients.

The new complex has eight floors, each having a floor area of 10,000 square feet. “One floor will be dedicated to channeling / consultations and the speciality areas will be segregated so that all consultants specialising in one particular field of medicine will be together”, Director/General Manager of Nawaloka Hospitals, Prof. Lal Chandrasena said.

The new complex will house amongst other facilities, a well equipped emergency treatment unit, an OPD laboratory, pharmacy, consultation rooms, cafe, ATMs, a maternity department complete with surgical theatre, delivery room as well as private delivery rooms and an Out Bound Unit for patients with post pregnancy defects, a neo natal unit, a MICU [Medical Intensive Care Unit] with the latest facilities, a Sleep Lab [snoring monitoring facility], dialysis unit, isolation room, 14 ultra modern surgical theatres, a modern fertility centre, Nephrology unit, as well as a series of villas and suites to cater to the more fastidious patients.

“Two operating theatres will be dedicated for the needs of ‘out patients’ while another two will be dedicated for obstetrics and gynaecology”.

Professor Chandrasena added that all the ICUs including the medical, surgical, coronary and the angiography laboratory will be expanded and housed on the second floor. Dharmadasa said they had additionally invested Rs 60 million to purchase equipment including monitors for the ICUs which would help the nurses monitor the patient’s condition from a central location.

“Annually we invest around Rs 200 million on technology alone and we have many firsts to our credit including being the first to introduce the Philips FD 10- Angiography system with state of the art technology.

In addition we were also the first to introduce a Comprehensive Polysomnography System, as well as the first to introduce a state of the art pulmonary testing facility”.

Prof. Chandrasena said that the most expensive item in the healthcare industry was the cost of introducing new equipment.

“The modern world is such that every day there is new technology coming into the industry, which makes even new equipment obsolete, however in order to keep your service up to date, it is essential to provide the latest technology regardless of the cost”.

Another unique feature of the new complex will be the super luxury, luxury and semi luxury suites and villas that will be on offer which have been designed by a panel of internationally recognisd architects and consultants who specialise in medical requirements.

“We have seen a growth in this area [indeed it can be termed medical tourism as we hope to attract foreign patents from the region as well], where people are demanding more facilities and amenities when undergoing treatment”.

Professor Chandrasena went on to say that in this instance patients would not be confined to a room but would have ample space, while each and every villa and suite will have a water front view, as well as an aerial view of Colombo city.

Other facilities such as internet connections will also be on offer, all of which will contribute towards making the patients stay at Nawaloka Hospitals a pleasurable as well as recuperative experience”.

The new complex will also address the problem of parking. “Presently we have two parking blocks which are owned by us and once the new complex is up and running we hope to commence construction of a multistoried car park at an additional cost of Rs 50 million”, Dharmadasa said.

As a result of the new complex, Nawaloka Hospital’s bed count will be at 400, while their total staff strength will stand at 2000.

GSK renovates hospital ward

Employees of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have dedicated the very first GSK ‘Orange Day’ to the renovation of a ward at the Lunawa District Hospital.

Volunteers from the company launched the project that included painting of the exterior and interior walls of Ward six, painting the beds and cupboards, repairing of the roof, supply and fixing of a sink, tap, ceiling fans, tube lights and window panes, the installation of a new toilet and curtaining the windows.

Speaking on the initiative Managing Director of GSK Pharmaceuticals Stuart Chapman said GSK’s mission of improving the quality of human life by helping people to do more, feel better and live longer can be achieved not just through medicines and vaccines but also through involvement with local communities. The renovation of the ward at the Lunawa Hospital commenced with a ‘shramadana’ by employees of GSK and will be completed by a reputed contractor hired by the company.