Sri Lanka’s Hemas Hospital seeks to offer its services to Seychellois |15 October 2015

It is with the aim of increasing exchanges between Sri Lanka and Seychelles in fields like tourism, health and also business all in one package, that the Hemas Hospital chain and a medical tourism company have come together to offer their services and expertise to Seychellois visiting Sri Lanka.

Health Minister Mitcy Larue and key officials from her ministry recently had the chance to learn more about all these services and expertise during talks they had with a visiting delegation from Hemas Hospital and the Medical Tourism (Pvt) Ltd.

The managing director and general manager of the Hemas Hospital chain, Dr Lakith Peiris and Dr Chamila Ariyananda respectively, and the managing director of Medical Tourism (Pvt) Ltd, Chamindika Samaraweera, talked about the services, treatment possibilities that Seychellois can benefit from.

As a chain of multi-specialist health care provider, Hemas Hospitals offer their patients the best in health care at affordable prices. The services available are specialist channeling, radiological services, surgical care to over 50 laparoscopic and general surgeries such as kidney transplant, echo-cardiographs, video endoscopy and colonoscopy, and even fully automated laboratory services among others.

The Hemas Hospital chain is the first hospital in Sri Lanka to be recognised by the accreditation body of the Australian Council for Healthcare Standards International (ACHSI).

Also present at the talks and informal discussions and presentations held at the Coral Strand Hotel were former patients of Hemas Hospital among other guests.

“We are here to strengthen relations between the Hemas Hospital chain in Sri Lanka with the government and the people of Seychelles,” Dr Ariyananda said.  

He added that Hemas Hospital has been providing healthcare services to the people of Seychelles for quite some time, both for patients or people who are working  in Sri Lanka  and also special patients who are sent through the Ministry of Health.

He said Hemas Hospital is in the process to add more value to its health care system by seeking higher accreditation standards for its laboratory services.
 
With regard to Medical Tourism (Pvt) Ltd, it is made up of a professional team of medical travel specialists, poised to serve medical and wellness tourists seeking healthcare in Sri Lanka.

The company’s relationship with leading health care providers in Sri Lanka is coupled with their experience in tourism and travel planning, so that they are able to customise your stay to a minimum number of days and make it an unforgettable wellness experience while being cost effective.

Following the discussions Minister Larue said an official visit to Hemas Hospital will be scheduled for early next year.

The purpose would be for health officials and doctors to see for themselves the services that the hospital is able to provide.

“We won’t only be looking at the place and their services but also looking at ways for collaboration, for example training of our staff, attachment for our staff, explore the possibility to have their doctors come to Seychelles,” Minister Larue pointed out.

She said even for the laboratories we need expertise from outside to work with us so that we can be accredited to an international level and they could help us.

She noted that after the visit the ministry will be in a better position to decide on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to allow for strengthened and more collaboration between the two parties.
 
Minister Larue also pointed out that with increased collaborations, there is the possibility for Hemas Hospital to open a branch in Seychelles so that instead of sending our patients overseas we could treat them here and even have tourists coming from across the world to receive treatment here.

The ceremony was also an opportunity for some former patients of the hospital to give their testimonies.

Singer and comedian Joseph Sinon is one of them and he did not hesitate to recommend their facilities to anyone contemplating a medical visit combined with holiday and business.

“For me it was very fantastic as I got to do a whole body check up while seeing nine doctors in one day,” he pointed out.

He expressed gratitude to Medical Tourism (Pvt) Ltd who facilitated his stay and to Hemas which came out with the best results.

Steven Charlette had his second renal transplant at Hemas Hospital while being catered for by Medical Tourism (Pvt) Ltd.