MAS Holdings donates Rs. 130 m to support Lady Ridgeway Hospital project
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Construction of the Cardiac and Critical Care Complex.
MAS Holdings and its associates, have honoured their pledge to support the ‘Little Hearts’ project of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, one of the largest children’s hospitals in the world, by raising funds to upgrade its infrastructure in cardiac care, towards their ongoing national healthcare efforts
In 2019, at the request of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians, MAS embarked on internally raising funds for the ‘Little Hearts’ project, where the hospital requested the company’s assistance to raise Rs. 100 million towards the construction of a Cardiac and Critical Care Complex in aid of children with heart diseases and critical illnesses, with construction being carried out by the Civil Engineering Division of the Sri Lanka Navy. The company was able to successfully raise in excess of Rs.130 million through donations by both MAS employees and an equal-value contribution from the company, the company said in a media release.
The hospital superstructure construction commenced in 2020, with funding from the Little Hearts project, alongside the Sri Lankan government’s backing. The Cardiac and Critical Care Complex is a 12-story hospital wing with 9 floors of the structure having been completed to date. The building will feature a cath lab, cardiac operating theatres and will increase the number of cardiac ICU beds from 18 to 36. It will also include over 70 medical and neonatal intensive care beds, a fully-fledged bone marrow transplant unit, as well as specialised zones for advanced cardiac investigations and staff-training facilities, allowing for the optimal provision of care for all children.
Commenting on their efforts, Director- MAS Holdings, Ajay Amalean said, “We are honoured to be able to support the Little Hearts project. Social stewardship is part of our core corporate ethos, and this further showcases the importance MAS places on supporting our nation and our people.”
Commenting on the project, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist and the project director of Little Hearts, Dr. Duminda Samarasinghe said, “We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to MAS Holdings for their efforts towards supporting us. Every day, we lose around eight children in Sri Lanka due to Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) or critical illnesses and most of them can be saved with the improvement of facilities.”