Ceylinco Life donates specialised Dengue treatment facility to LRH

A sophisticated High Dependency and Research Unit exclusively for the treatment of children afflicted by Dengue; constructed, furnished and equipped at a cost of Rs. 10.5 million has been donated to the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital (LRH) by Ceylinco Life and a group of well-wishers.

The five-bed unit is located at Ward 1, the professorial ward managed by the Colombo Medical Faculty, with a multi-disciplinary panel of specialist consultants, and meets a critical need at the country’s premier hospital for children.

The donation of this unit is one of several activities connected with Ceylinco Life’s 25 anniversary celebrated on 14 January 2013.

Serving as a specialised ICU for the management of serious cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever, the new unit is also equipped to be a teaching unit for outstation hospitals via video conference facilities. The intention of the hospital authorities is to initially link hospitals in Trincomalee, Matara, Embilipitiya and Negombo as well as the Paediatric unit of the Rajarata University to the unit. The possibility of linking with a hospital in Lahore, Pakistan is also being studied.

“Being the lead funder and providing leadership for this project has given us a great deal of satisfaction, particularly because it will tangibly help in the battle against Dengue,” Ceylinco Life’s Managing Director and CEO R. Renganathan said.

“If this unit helps save even one life, it will be worth it, but we know it will save many, many lives. We deeply appreciate the contributions of our re-insurers, and several other generous people towards this initiative. We believe that corporate entities can play a bigger role in improving the quality of healthcare in our country.”

The other contributors to the project were, Swiss Re of Switzerland, Munich Re of Germany, Hemaka Amarasuriya and his wife, along with Dileeka and Thushan Amarasuriya (in memory of their son and brother Damith Shamindra Amarasuriya), Arthur Senanayake and his wife along with Annika and Alexandria Senanayake (in memory of their son and brother Alastair Yasvanth Senanayake), Yoko Nonobe and Ceylon Oxygen.

The new High Dependency Unit of 710 square feet is located behind the main reception counter, of Ward 1 of the hospital. It has five ICU type beds with bed head panels, oxygen outlets, multi-parameter monitors, bed side cupboards, over bed tables, bystander reclining chairs, medical equipment stands and nurses stools. The fully air-conditioned unit is also equipped with seven Infusion Pumps, seven Syringe Pumps, video conference equipment (five Laptops, web cams, speakers, microphones and computer stands), three Portable Suction Apparatus units, five Oxygen flow meters and an air purifier unit. The unit is also equipped with a Semi-automated bio chemistry analyser.

This project represents the second commitment by Ceylinco Life to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital in 2012. Earlier in the year the company donated 25 foldable beds, renovated the lighting and electrical system, installed fans and repaired defective sections of the concrete soffit of Ward 1 of the hospital.

Sri Lanka’s life insurance leader for the past eight years, Ceylinco Life is responsible for a series of multi-faceted community programs conducted annually in many parts of Sri Lanka. The company’s flagship project ‘Waidya Hamuwa’ a series of free medical camps conducted by teams of travelling doctors has directly interacted with, and touched the lives of more than 150,000 people over the past eight years. The company also conducts a series of educational seminars for pregnant mothers annually, and organises country-wide blood donation camps in association with the National Blood Transfusion Service.

In the area of education, Ceylinco Life is committed to supporting the development of educational infrastructure for underprivileged schools in rural areas. This consists principally of building classroom blocks for schools and providing water supply facilities to those in need. In 2012, Ceylinco Life completed its 50th school project under this program.