Sunday Times 2
Batticaloa hospital will soon get modern accident unit
View(s):A project to upgrade the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital’s Emergency and Accident Unit (BEAP) and equip it with a trauma unit will be launched this month, with parts of the funds coming from an Australian-Sri Lankan organisation. Construction work on the first phase of the project will be started this month by the Central Engineering and Consulting Bureau of Sri Lanka (CECB). It is estimated to cost US$ 6 million.
An architect's drawing of the new unit of the Batticaloa Hospital
The Foundation Supporting a National Trauma Service will provide US$ 2 million for the project and the rest would come from the Health Ministry. The Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, Nihal de Run, said they had already raised US$ 1.6 million and they were confident they would be able to raise the balance fund also. Several local and international organisations and companies have pledged their support for the project.
The Foundation was established in September 25, 2011 as a trust with Dr. David A Young, Nihal de Run, Nalin Pathikirikorale, Indrajith Fernando and Yoland (Bobby) Hansen as its trustees in Colombo. It was also granted legal status in Australia, with Governor of Victoria, Prof. David de Kretser, serving as patron and, Dr. Ranjith Hettiarachchi and Abbas Akbarally as vice patrons.
World renowned cricketers Mutthiah Muralidharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Dav Whatmore and Shane Watson serve as ambassadors for the project. The project is designed to be completed in two phases. In the first phase, the Emergency and Accident Unit would be completed and in the second phase, the new building will be equipped with state-of-the-art surgical equipment and machinery, operating theatre furniture and ward beds. The completion of the project and handing over of the new building is scheduled for the end of 2017.
Under the guidance of Foundation President, Dr. Young, an orthopedic surgeon from Melbourne and partner of the Melbourne Orthopedic Group, awareness has been created on the need for a National Trauma Service throughout Sri Lanka.
In Batticaloa, a district hit by decades of war and a devastating tsunami, there is a pressing need to enhance the present trauma care institute in the Eastern Province to include regions such as Pottuvil in the south to Trincomalee in the north and Polonnaruwa in the west.
The construction of the trauma unit will assist people who are badly injured in motor vehicle accidents, industrial and domestic accidents, burns, bites and vision impairment, and those who are suffering from lingering post tsunami trauma. Meanwhile, BEAP’s mission is to empower doctors in Sri Lankan Teaching Hospitals to improve health care services, by providing them with medical resources, training and support to build the necessary infrastructure within their teaching hospitals and to extend the National Trauma Service from Karapitiya to Batticaloa and beyond.
The Rotary Club of Strathmore, Victoria, Australia has adopted the project BEAP as its international project and it linked up with Rotary Club of Colombo East and the Rotary Club of Batticaloa to help with the project.