Ceylinco Healthcare opens first dedicated Elderly Care Centre in private sector
The first multidisciplinary medical care centre for the elderly in Sri Lanka’s private sector was formally declared open by Ceylinco Healthcare Services Limited (CHSL) in February with the involvement of some of the country’s leading specialists in Geriatric Medicine.
Located on the first floor of the Ceylinco Healthcare Centre at No 60, Park Street, Colombo 2, the unit comprises of four rooms for residential care, as well as facilities for outpatient services and channelling of specialist doctors, physiotherapists, speech therapists and diet therapists, bringing under one roof the inter-linked, inter-disciplinary services needed for holistic care of elders. Recognising the need for a shift from the diseasecentric approach to the personcentric approach of treatment that is central to Geriatric Medicine, the Ceylinco Assured Care Centre will cater to persons who are relatively healthy after the age of 60 andwill benefit from assistance for active healthy ageing, as well as for elderly patients who are weak and in need of specific medical interventions and support.
Speaking atthe opening of the centre, CHSL Chairman R. Renganathan pointed out that Sri Lanka has the dubious distinction of having the fastest ageing population in the world, and that elderly people, defined as persons over 60 years, will represent 50 per cent of the country’s population by 2050.
These projections had led Ceylinco Life, which owns Ceylinco Healthcare Services, to invest in ‘La Serena’ – Sri Lanka’s first dedicated retirement resort – and the Ceylinco Assured Care Centre, he said. Consultant Physician Dr. Dilhar Samaraweera, founder President of the Sri Lanka Association of Geriatric Medicine, who addressed invitees at the opening of thenew centre, said the Ceylinco Assured Care Centre was the result of detailed discussions between himself and other leading doctors and Ceylinco Healthcare Services.
“The Board of Directors of CHSL showed great commitment to set up a centre of excellence of quality, and I have great pleasure and pride to be associated with the first multidisciplinary elderly care centre in the private sector,’ he said. “No other centre offers services that encompass the physical, sensory, cognitive, environmental and social areas,” Dr. Samaraweera said, disclosing that the centre would address the syndromes associated with ageing such as decreased mobility, instability, falls, frailty, incontinence, dementia and depression, and would also offer pre-retirement counselling to provide those approaching 60 guidance to ge gracefully.
A membership programme offered by the Ceylinco Assured Care Centre provides the assurance that “we will all be with you throughout the course of your life,” Dr. Samaraweera added. Consultant Rheumatologist Dr. Lalith Wijeratne, founder of the Sri Lanka Association of Geriatric Medicine, who spoke on the origins and evolution of Geriatric Medicine as a distinct specialty in Sri Lanka following the establishment of a Board of Study in Elderly Care, said Sri Lanka now has 70 postgraduate doctors who are diploma holders in Geriatric Medicine, and that the first batch of fully-qualified Geriatrics specialists would pass out in 2024.