An uninterrupted supply of life-saving oxygen is now reaching nearly 300 beds at the Matale District General Hospital, thanks to a community initiative of Ceylinco Life.
The company has provided Rs 12.3 million to build a pipe network that connects the hospital’s central oxygen concentrator with the wards, eliminating the cumbersome, time-consuming and costly practice of re-filling cylinders and transporting them to wards across the 22-acre compound.
The hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and other wards are now self-sufficient in oxygen, leading to a significant improvement in the quality of treatment, while the hospital’s oxygen concentrator is expected to reach maximum utilisation. Ceylinco Life also presented essential medicines to the value of over Rs. 500,000 at the ceremony at which the new oxygen distribution system was handed over to the hospital. Ceylinco Life Chairman R. Renganathan said: “Our company has always shared its success with its stakeholders. The general public is one such stakeholder. Sri Lanka has one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and any citizen can seek medical care free. Naturally, there are cost implications and challenges.
“We are aware that many hospitals do not have every item of equipment that they need. Ceylinco Life has made numerous contributions over the years to the Government healthcare system as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program,” he said.
Thanking Ceylinco Life for its generous contributions to the Matale District General Hospital, the hospital’s Director Dr. A. G. M. M. Dharmadasa emphasised the importance of treatment at the “golden hour” for patients, and outlined on how this initiative will enable the hospital to provide better treatment to patients in a critical condition.
