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The metamorphosis of a hospital
A glossy black Grand Piano is the piece de resistance on the first floor and suddenly soft, soothing classical music fills the air, while at other times children are drawn to the ebony-and-ivory keys and from their little fingers flow forth the lilting notes of ‘Chopsticks’.
Kings Hospital run by a group of doctors
The Grand Piano is not in the lobby of a five-star hotel but in a hospital which has undergone metamorphosis from an innocuous caterpillar into a butterfly – from a dark and dingy building to what it is today.
Many surprises await men, women and children at the Kings Hospital down Muhandiram E.D. Dabare Mawatha, in Narahenpita, Colombo 5, including greetings and guidance by smiling staff members and cups of coffee being served to all those awaiting consultation with specialist doctors.
However, it is not just gloss and glamour, assures the Head of Medical Services, Dr. Shani De Silva.
The newly-opened Kings Hospital (the name apparently giving due place to the patient who is ‘king’) is not being run by those sitting in their ivory towers far removed from the patients but by a set of doctors themselves who are well-attuned to the pulse of the patients.
In an exclusive tour of this state-of-the-art nine-floor facility, the Sunday Times sees what makes Kings Hospital different.
“While all the usual facilities are available, the initiative and conceptualization of this revolutionary healthcare system has come from a group of doctors,” says a senior specialist, reiterating that having equipped the facility with top-end technology, they are hoping to provide ethical and empathetic care to all patients.
He underlines the fact that their objective is simple – “We want to provide high-quality value-based care, making use of the best possible technology and in the best of comfort at an optimum cost to the patient.”
This centre of excellence will be run ethically and with much empathy, assures this specialist, pointing out that they hope to curtail “our people going to other countries in search of better technology, support and facilities”.
With strong intentions of working with all other healthcare institutions, both public and private, he says that they will strive to make Kings Hospital a “hub” for healthcare workers to serve the patient to the best of their ability. “We will work in synergy with everyone to give of our best to the patients.”
Dr. Shani De Silva
Another assurance that is loud and clear is that the in-house patients will not be under the sole care of one specialist, but have a multi-disciplinary team including several specialists looking after him/her.
“We have not stinted on the technology. All the departments are well set and we have one of the best operating theatre complexes and also one of the best laboratories in the country,” he explains.
The tour for the Sunday Times of this 130-bed hospital begins with the ground floor which is home to the Outpatients Department (OPD), the eight-bed Emergency Treatment Unit (ETU), the section where patient admissions are carried out and samples are collected.
As we go up floor-by-floor and peek into the different departments with Dr. De Silva, it seems quite surreal – whether it is the spacious and airy channelling and consultation area on the first floor with its piano or the fully-equipped Intensive Care Units (ICUs) categorized as ‘general’, ‘cardiac’ (heart) and ‘neonatal’ (newborns) with 33 beds in all located elsewhere.
The sophisticated Radiology Department has facilities for the usual X-rays, CT-scans, MRI+CT as well as Dexa-scans. “We have the latest technology for Digital 3-D Imaging & Tomosynthesis for breast cancer screening which enables us to perform vacuum-assisted biopsies,” she explains.
As we view the CT-scan machine which for many people causes claustrophobia, there is a soothing view of green leaves on the ceiling, making you feel as if you are spread-eagled in a park looking up at the sky. The same is being planned for the MRI room.
More sections all under one roof we visit, including the Cardiac Care Unit; Respiratory Centre, the Eye Unit; the Dental Unit; the cozy labour suites as well as each room having scanning facilities for the obstetricians and gynaecologists all in the Maternal Wellness Centre; the Nephrology Unit with its four dialysis machines with a patient walking out all smiles, while his wife says they come here three times a week as he is awaiting kidney transplantation.
“The Respiratory Centre is one of its kind in the country,” says Dr. De Silva, explaining that a wide range of pulmonary services are provided here including the screening for fitness to take flights or exercise-induced wheezing; lung-function determination with an instrument called a plethysmograph; sleep studies; bronchoscopy and more.
Nothing has been left for chance and much thought has also gone into the ‘unique’ kitchen complex with the self-cooking centre which has pride of place, being a first for a hospital and so far available only in five-star hotels, it is learnt,
Dr. De Silva stresses that Kings Hospital is not just a brick-and-mortar structure but founded on a bedrock of cutting-edge technology by a group of doctors to provide an ethically run one-stop centre which gives all the skills and treatment needed.
“We are hoping to set a strong benchmark both in the health service we provide and the training we give our staff,” she says, adding that the patient will be at the very heart of whatever they do.
CT-scan machine with a view of green leaves on the ceiling
The consultation area with its piano. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara