Nawaloka’s Rs. 1.5 b hospital complex opens on Nov. 18

by Surekha GALAGODA

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Nawaloka Hospital, the first purpose built private hospital in Sri Lanka will open its state of the art hospital complex on November 18 investing Rs 1.5 bln.

Director/General Manager, Nawaloka Hospitals, Prof. Lal Chandrasena told the Sunday Observer that the hospital will always invest on the latest technology to be ahead or on par with the rest of the world in healthcare. He said that Nawaloka Hospital invests around Rs 200 mln annually on technology alone.

The main aim of the hospital complex was to provide better facilities to the patients. The new complex has eight floors and each floor area is 10,000 sq.ft, the total being 80,000 sq.ft. One floor will be dedicated for consultations and the speciality areas will be segregated so that all consultants specialising in one area of medicine will be together. The new complex will have 13 operating theatres. Two operating theatres will be dedicated for out patients’ needs while another two will be dedicated for obstetrics and gynaecology. Prof. Chandrasena said that all the ICUs including the medical, surgical, coronary and the angiography laboratory will be expanded and housed in the second floor along with the staff so that attention and care will be prompt and easy.

In addition, the hospital has invested around Rs 60 mln to purchase equipment including monitors for the ICUs which helps the nursing staff to monitor the patients from a central location.

The seventh floor will house semi luxury, luxury and super luxury rooms while the new complex will add 100 rooms.

The new hospital will also have a sleep laboratory where patients having sleep disorders will be monitored overnight.

He said the hospital employs about 1,800 staff directly and with the opening of the hospital complex there will be employment for another 200 directly while many more are employed indirectly.

The staff of the hospital is a great strength and encouragement and at all times their dedication has paid rich dividends.

The Nawaloka Hospital was built at a cost of Rs 100 mln in 1985 with 100 rooms, three operating theatres, an ICU as well as CT and MRI scanners.

By stages the hospital added another 100 rooms. In 1993 The New Nawaloka Hospital was built adding 300 rooms, a new operating theatre complex as well as new equipment such as CT and MRI scanners.

In 1994 Nawaloka Hospitals was listed as a Public quoted company on the main board of the Colombo Stock Exchange. ‘We are the first and the only hospital to be ISO certified while the hospital has won many more awards over the years’, said Prof. Chandrasena.

“We saw the need for further expansion and launched the hospital complex project in September 2006 which will be opened on November 18, he said.