A husband’s wish and place patients can call home
An environment for patients to feel at home
The earnest request was simple but full of meaning………a ‘patient-friendly home’ with long and airy verandahs with glimpses of greenery to bring about serenity.
This is what Yogeswari, wife of the late philanthropist Jayam Wijayaratnam, gifted on Friday (July 
not only to the Health Ministry but to those in need of cancer treatment.
A fully-fledged, purpose-built 100-bed cancer hospital, yes with long verandahs and greenery. The JayamWijayaratnam Cancer Care Centre (JWCCC) designed by renowned architect C. Anjalendran and constructed under the supervision of well-known engineer Deepal Wickramasinghe will operate under the mandate of the Colombo North Teaching Hospital (CNTH) in Ragama.
“Whenever I walk into a hospital my heart beats 100 times more than normal. I didn’t want that type of feeling for patients when they come to this hospital,” Mrs. Wijayaratnam tells the Sunday Times, explaining that in this ‘patient-friendly home’ she also wanted one eight-bed ward for terminally-ill patients so that a family member could be with them in the last stages of their life, a prayer room and an auditorium where people could be made aware about cancer.
Jayam Wijayaratnam
The JWCCC is the fulfilment of a strong wish that her husband – from a family known for much philanthropy – who passed away in 2013, had held to help all those cancer patients from the western coastal areas.
“There is no hospital to treat cancer patients between Puttalam and Maharagama and many of them avoid travelling that far to the Maharagama hospital because of severe difficulties,” says Mrs. Wijayaratnam.
Her husband having been a Deputy Mayor and third-generation businessman in Negombo, as there had been no space in this area, Mrs. Wijayaratnam had set about getting this project off the ground when an acre of land was offered by the health authorities close to the CNTH. It is accessible through the CNTH.
The JWCCC – inspired by the concept of the charity Maggie’s with the tagline “everyone’s home of cancer care” in the United Kingdom – has been designed in line with the belief that light, colour and a connection to nature can help people feel better.
Coming under the CNTH’s Oncology Department headed by Consultant Oncologist Dr.Sujeewa Siyambalapitiya, the JWCCC’s main building lined by verandahs, accommodates the 100 beds including the ward for terminally-ill patients.
Dr. Sujeewa Siyambalapitiya
It has laboratory facilities, a pharmacy, patient-screening areas, auditorium, offices, nurses’ and doctors’ rest rooms and prayer room. The building ensconces a spacious courtyard. An ancillary wing with nurses’ and other staff quarters is to be completed shortly.
Dr. Siyambalapitiya points out that at present, CNTH has only a Day Unit for cancer patients, where they come in for their chemotherapy and leave afterwards.
“This new cancer hospital will be a great help for patients as we will perform cancer detection, chemotherapy treatment and patient follow-up. Eventually we will also have radiotherapy,” he says, adding that the hospital is located within the premises of the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital.
Yogeswari Wijayaratnam
The JWCCC project is managed by the Jayam Wijayaratnam Fund, the Trustees of which are Mrs.Wijayaratnam; lawyer, diplomat and human rights advocate Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy and corporate personality Kavan Ratnayake.
The late Mr. Wijayaratnam was an alumnus of Royal College, Colombo, who had been a member of the college First XV rugby team that played for the Bradby Shield under the captaincy of the late C.V. Gooneratne. He had been compelled to cut short his university education after the death of his father, a former Mayor of Negombo, to take over the family business that included a desiccated coconut (DC) mill. He later became the President of the DC Millers’ Association of Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Wijayaratnam who secured a London BSc degree had taught physics and mathematics at Bishop’s College, Colombo, for a long time.
“Very happy,” is Mrs. Wijayaratnam to donate the hospital in fulfilment of a long-held wish of her beloved husband.
Searching for an ideal partner? Find your soul mate on Hitad.lk, Sri Lanka's favourite marriage proposals page. With Hitad.lk matrimonial advertisements you have access to thousands of ads from potential suitors who are looking for someone just like you.