Melsta Hospitals Ragama becomes first to be accredited with a comprehensive IMS

Melstacorp Chairman Deshamanya Harry Jayawardena (left) and Melsta Hospitals Executive Director Dr. Thiyagarajah Iraivan

Melsta Hospitals Ragama, part of Melsta Health which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka’s leading diversified conglomerate Melstacorp PLC, recently made history when it became the only healthcare institution in the country to be accredited with an integrated management system (IMS) comprising of four international standards; ISO 9001 :2015, ISO 22000:2018, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018.

In February 2020 Melstacorp PLC owned by famed business tycoon Harry Jayawardena fully acquired Browns Hospitals managed by Browns Healthcare and rebranded it to Melsta Hospitals Ragama. In such a short span of time, the Melsta Health management has been able to achieve an affordable, quality conscious and process driven culture whilst staying true to its purpose of being socially responsible. 

Melsta Health currently manages Joseph Fraser Memorial Hospital, a long-standing frontrunner in women’s and children-focused healthcare. Melsta Health also owns and operates Melsta Labs, a growing network of state-of-the-art laboratories with presence in the Western, Southern and Central provinces. 

Melsta Hospitals Executive Director Dr. K. Thiyagarajah Iraivan said: “Our aim is to provide comprehensive and quality healthcare on par with world-class standards at affordable rates making it easily accessible to everyone across the country. The IMS platform will now allow us to set the stage in acquiring the prestigious Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation in the near future.”

The hospital also conducted a live kidney transplant surgery to a very deserving patient completely free of charge to mark its anniversary. As a responsible and inclusive entity it has successfully reduced prices of many medical procedures including OPD, surgeries, theatre charges, and room rates. 

Today Melsta Hospitals Ragama stands as one of the fastest growing healthcare providers in the country. It has meticulously invested in various infrastructure, technology, resource and quality developments. 

GM Operations Ranjana Gunathilake said: “The IMS integrates all aspects of the hospital operations into one set of policies and procedures allowing us to achieve high operational efficiencies and continuous improvement. These enable us to give a quality and consistent service to our customers and also ensuring occupational health and safety among our talented and hardworking employees.”

“This accreditation affirms the continuous efforts in streamlining our processes to embrace and foster a process-driven attitude to doing things. Quality patient care and safety is of foremost importance to us,” added Director – Medical Service Dr. Upul Illangasinghe.

The hospital has a high-end operation theatre, ICU, Renal ICU, emergency department, and laboratory facility managed by Melsta Labs that conducts over 4,000 various different tests. 

It has modern MRI, CT and other radiology services enabling patients to get an accurate diagnosis. Its recent upgrades include endoscopy machines, new transplant and urology equipment, new Renal transplant ICU, and currently in the process of setting up a state-of-the-art gastroenterology centre, a one stop solution for issues in the digestive system.

Identifying critical issues associated with rising Non-Communicable Diseases in Sri Lanka prevailing today especially cancer, Melsta Hospitals heavily focuses in oncology namely in breast care and breast cancer. And with this in mind, it has opened a free breast care clinic on every Wednesdays and this is by prior registrations only.

Kidney diseases are on a significant rise too with stones, prostate cancer and urological issues taking centre stage and to address this, it has established a new urology and transplant centre providing surgeries related to such at an affordable price.