Dialog Axiata Gifts Fully-functional ICU at Negombo General Hospital to the Public

Plaque reveal during the inauguration ceremony of the fully-functional ICU complex at the Negombo District Hospital, funded entirely by Dialog Axiata.

Photographed left to right: Dr. S H Munasinghe - Secretary, Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services, Kanchana Jayaratne – Private Secretary to the Hon. Minister (partially covered), Hon. Pavithra Wanniarachchi - Minister of Health and Indigenous Medical Services, Supun Weerasinghe – Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC and Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya - Chief Executive, Telecommunications Business and Executive Vice President, Axiata Group Berhad

Explanations underway of the functionality of the fully-functional ICU developed by Dialog Axiata.

Photographed left to right: Hon. Pavithra Wanniarachchi - Minister of Health and Indigenous Medical Services, Supun Weerasinghe - Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC, Dr. Amal Harsha De Silva - Deputy Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health, Kanchana Jayaratne – Private Secretary to the Hon. Minister and Dr. Nihal Weerasuriya - Director of the Negombo District General Hospital, Dr. Sunil de Alwis - Additional Secretary (Medical Services), Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, in less than a month, concluded the immediate civil reconstruction and provision of equipment to establish a fully functional Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Negombo District General Hospital. This concludes the first step taken in the pledged Rs. 200 Million towards the urgently required ICU capacity development in hospitals selected by the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services (MOH) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The civil re-construction and critical ICU development funded entirely by Dialog Axiata established a fully functional ICU complex with a Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU), a Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) to accommodate 10 new beds - complete with state-of-the-art ICU equipment advancing the hospital's capability to admit more patients. This ICU development by Dialog Axiata will further enable a higher chance of survival for admitted critical patients in the long run, lessen the pressure on medical staff treating patients with acute illnesses, will add greater value to the training of doctors in intensive care whilst also further acting as a catalyst to improve healthcare systems in the district.

Commenting on this occasion, Hon. Pavithra Wanniarachchi - Minister of Health and Indigenous Medical Services stated “Dialog Axiata took great efforts to provide a fully functional ICU to the hospital. This marks a monumental moment in history where the development of a fully-functional ICU complex was completed in less than 30 days. On behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka I would like state my sincere gratitude to Dialog. Much like the lifesaving efforts practiced during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a responsibility to save the public from common acute illnesses such as Dengue fever, now a long-term possibility with the completion of the fully-functional ICU complex. Thus, we extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the unwavering efforts of Dialog Axiata and everyone who was involved in this dedicated service to the hospital in this crucial time of need”

Dr. S. H. Munasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services further stated “An individual’s health is their greatest wealth. Dialog’s colossal efforts show us a company’s ability to greatly contribute to public welfare and as a result create greater prosperity in their long-term health. Dialog is abundantly blessed in the goodwill it has accumulated for facilitating this district’s hospital with a fully-functional ICU complex in this current time of need and for long-term direct lifesaving activities”.

Commenting, Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “We are pleased to have concluded the critical ICU development at Negombo District General Hospital in less than a month, in our efforts to further support health care providers with their direct lifesaving activities. The completion of this project, which is a part of the larger mission of the Rs. 200 Million pledged by Dialog to support and expand the country’s healthcare systems, significantly increased accessibility to intensive care to the general public, enabling not only the treatment of COVID-19 patients in a time of crisis but also continues to support all other patients in need of critical care, in the long-term”.

Additionally, Dialog Axiata is also in the midst of completing the second stage of the pledged Rs. 200 Million to establish a fully functional ICU at the Homagama Base Hospital. These efforts are integral milestones achieved in Dialog’s mission of expanding the country’s healthcare systems to provide critical care services and accessibility to intensive care for patients.