Sierra builds and donates ‘Heart Beat Lounge’ to LRH

Little patients and their guardians now have the use of a comfortable lobby and waiting area in the Paediatric Cardiac Centre at the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital (LRH), thanks to the generosity of Sierra Construction (Pvt.) Ltd.

Aptly named ‘Heart Beat Lounge’, the building was purpose designed and built by Sierra as a corporate social responsibility initiative in response to a request by Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist Dr. Shehan Perera, who saw the need to provide space for the parents and guardians of children undergoing cardiac surgery.

“The Heart Beat Lounge fulfils a much-felt need at the Children’s Heart Centre of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital,” said Sierra Telecommunications CEO Kamaj Wanigasooriya.

“As a responsible business entity, we were happy to be able to help the hospital and the thousands of people and children that will visit the centre over the years. I would like to thank Dr. Shehan for giving us this opportunity and Chamal Jayalath, Chartered Architect and S.T.B. Dissanayake at Sierra for their contributions to the successful completion of the project.”

Before the lounge was built, children and accompanying adults had to wait in a common corridor until the children were taken into the operating theatre. In addition, all parents who came to see their children in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) also had to wait in the busy corridor.

The Children’s Heart Centre at the LRH is the only dedicated Paediatric Cardiac Centre in the country that provides comprehensive cardiac care including diagnostics, cardiac interventions and surgery to children free of charge.

Sierra Construction (Pvt.) Ltd is a fully-owned subsidiary of the diversified Sierra Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd, which has interests in cable manufacturing, PVC manufacturing, fertilizer manufacturing and leisure in addition to construction.