Dilmah Group donates High Dependency Care Unit to Nawalapitiya General Hospital
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The High Dependency Care unit
The Merrill J. Fernando High Dependency Care Facility was inaugurated on Monday at the Nawalapitiya District General Hospital.
The facility is funded by Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company Plc and its associate Kahawatte Plantations Plc with the facilitation of the MJF Charitable Foundation. Named after the Ceylon Teamaker who devoted his life to tea, the facility will provide specialised medical care for the predominantly tea estate workers in Nawalapitiya, also serving the Central Province, Dilmah said in a media release.
The Nawalapitiya hospital currently provides healthcare services for 500,000 people from the surrounding tea estates, and adjacent Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts. Current hospital capacity is not sufficient to accommodate demand, especially pandemic related patient surges. The 680-strong staff at the hospital was treated to lunch alongside the opening, in appreciation of their dedication.
The High Dependency Unit is housed in a structure that has been comprehensively refurbished to expand the hospital’s clinical care capacity and strengthen its COVID 19 response.
“We are grateful for the efforts of Dilmah’s MJF Foundation and Kahawatte Plantations. A comprehensive HDU is a timely need for the hospital in the management of COVID 19 patients who suffer from respiratory distress,” said Dr. M. Nihal Weerasooriya, Provincial Director of Health Services in the Central Province.
Dilhan C. Fernando, son of Merrill J. Fernando and CEO of Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company, said: “We face a health crisis of unprecedented magnitude. Every individual and business has an obligation to do what is possible to ease the pain that the pandemic is causing.”