"Health of a nation depends on the health of its people and as the old adage goes health is wealth. Wealth can offer a certain guarantee of health but it cannot guarantee good health at all times.
True to our mission "healing with feeling" Nawaloka Hospitals aided by some of the most advanced technology and backed by caring physicians with the finest of medical expertise, sufficient time for thoroughness and well qualified professionals taking care of patients is what "distinguishes" us from others and we are famed for our forte not only here in Sri Lanka but anywhere in the world, says Professor Lal Chandrasena, Director general manager of Nawaloka Hospitals Limited
This fact was well received and amply rewarded by the National Chamber of Commerce when Nawaloka Hospitals was adjudged by them as 2011's winner of Gold Award + Certificate for Healthcare Related Service Sector and Runner-up Silver Award + Certificate for Best Technology Savvy Company. This is the first time that a hospital in Sri Lanka has reached a dizzy height as this, says Jayantha Dharmadasa, Chairman, Nawaloka Group of Companies.
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| Jayantha Dharmadasa, Chairman, Nawaloka Group of Companies |
Nawaloka Hospital PLC made headlines when they won some very special awards - Award for Excellence in "Business and Financial Performance" & Runner-up; Award for the Best "Global Reach" & Runner-up; Award for the Best"Knowledge Integrator" & Runner-up; Award for the Best "Capacity Builder" & Runner-up and Award for the Best "Performance Management Practices" & Runner-up.
Nawaloka Hospitals now a benchmark in healthcare is no stranger to winning awards. Just take a look at the impressive list: Winner of National Business Excellence Awards in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011 for five consecutive years; only ISO 9001:2008 certified hospital in Sri Lanka; Baby Friendly Hospital recognized by UNICEF and WHO; National Quality Award Winner for Overall Quality; Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka honouring Nawalaoka Hospitals for Best Annual Reports Presentation.
Nawaloka Hospital has certainly revolutionized the healthcare industry in this country when futuristic technologies were introduced as and when the need arose and their milestones starting from 1985 unravels a fascinating chain of events when in August 1985 Sri Lanka's first ever fully fledged private hospital was launched with its own intensive care unit. Then in July 1987 its first CT scanner was installed with Sri Lanka's first ever mammography unit installed in September 1992.
April 1993 marked another "first" a minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery was concluded successfully in Sri Lanka. In August 1994 Sri Lanka witnessed the first cardiac catheterization laboratory and the first coronary artery bypass surgery unit in a hospital. The first MRI scanner arrived in Sri Lanka in 1995. In 2005 we made significant advances in neurosurgery and cardiac surgery while introducing laser eye surgery. Together with our Indian affiliates we introduced a very successful IVF treatment centre.
In 2006 we started constructing the new building to house sophisticated surgical units while computerizing all systems and turning them to an online operation. We were the first to introduce the Philips flat panel - angiography system with a comprehensive polysomnography system and a state of the art pulmonary testing facility in 2007.
Professor Chandrasena commenting about the tech savvyness of his hospital noted that the selection committee of National Business Excellence Awards had meticulously studied and evaluated their business and financial performance, global reach, knowledge integration, technology investments, capacity building, excellence in performance management practices, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility before crowning and glorifying their achievements.
We were the first to introduce the Siemens isocentric digital C-arm system for orthopaedics in 2008 and in 2009 we reached the coveted position of the first private hospital to have 400 beds. We were the first to introduce ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). In this year we added a device to our growing technological device portfolio and it was one of the world's most technologically advanced hemodialysis machines.
We were again the first to introduce "LED lamps" in operating theatres. All these medical marvels came to a head with the introduction of the 16 slice CT scanner with all accessories and the hitherto new 4D scanner for radiology and Gynecology and the ultrasonic detector in year 2010. Year 2011 added yet another milestone when Nawaloka became the first private hospital to introduce the MAGNETOM Skyra 3 TELSA MRI System with Tim+ Dot technology that provides a new level of seamless image quality with unprecedented acquisition speed and ease of use. It is the country's first ever 48 channel system that allows for quick patient positioning leading to shorter scan time for patients.
A few cutting edge and high-tech tools we use is the single ballon "entroscope" for endoscopy and diagnostics of symptoms related to colon, laser stone remover to crush and cut bladder stones and remove prostate cancer using a holmium element and the Hal Doppler that facilitates in painless haemuroid surgery.
Nawaloka Hospital is the cradle of innovation; bar-coding technology for laboratory blood collection is one such. This ensures that blood collected from a patient is channeled into the exact tube with the patient's name already printed on the barcode label on the tube. The sample testing instruments are equipped to read the barcodes and patient test information.Nawaloka Hospital has reached heights in their chosen sphere of expertise for being healthcare and patient-convenience centered and some "thoughtful" conveniences they have added to benefit patients are praiseworthy: you could settle your bills conveniently through a debit or a credit card over the internet, Whenever you need a blood test done you could call the Nawaloka Mobile Service who'll collect blood from you and transfer it quickly and safely to our laboratories for testing.
The Nawaloka Metropolis laboratory is in the process of establishing a Molecular Biology and Genetics Research Center to perform tests on infectious diseases like dengue, TB, HIV, hepatitis and on cancer marker detection tests.
We have fourteen operating theatres in our hospitals and these are dedicated for cardiac surgery, orthopaedic surgery, maternity and many others. These facilities carry some of the most advanced features as laminar flow - a special air circulation system ensuring an efficient and a germ free environment for surgeries because complicated surgeries as neuro or orthopaedics need exceptionally clean environment.
Total operations of the hospital are computerized and are continuously updated. Waste disposal is done adhering to environmental and health regulations while the disposal of human waste is undertaken by one of the most technologically advanced incinerators.
Lap band surgeries are done regularly by us; it helps in reducing weight and could give you that shapely figure you've been dreaming of. We also do live donor liver transplants and is planning to have kidney and bone marrow transplants, he said concluding the interview. |
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