Medical administrators in Sri Lanka are ever grateful to him
Dr. George Fernando, retired Director General of Health Services, who passed away recently, was my senior and friend in medical administration. Well known for his integrity, he was a role model for medical administrators.
He joined the Ministry of Health in 1961, after qualifying MBBS from the Faculty of Medicine Colombo, of the University of Ceylon. He went on to do his Diploma in Public Health from the University of Bristol, England and was selected for a career in medical administration in 1973.
He was Medical Superintendent General Hospital, Kurunegala in 1977, and then appointed Medical Superintendent, General Hospital Colombo. He was Superintendent of Health Services of the Galle District before he was promoted to the Head Office of the Ministry of Health in 1980. There he gained further experience in health services management and studied national health planning in John Hopkins University, USA. He also served as a short-term consultant in drug policies and management for the WHO. He was Deputy Director General of Health Services (Laboratory Services).
He was appointed Director General of Health Services(DGHS) in 1990. There he took an active interest in the work of the National STD/AIDS Programme (NSACP), rational use of drugs and tobacco control. For the latter the WHO awarded him the WHO Gold Medal in 1994.
It is during the time that he was DGHS, that he felt the need for a separate specialty for medical administration. Till that time the qualification to join a career in medical administration was to have at least eight years of service, a recognised post-graduate qualification, apply for it, and be selected by an interview board headed by the DGHS. For the purpose of establishing a specialty of medical administration, he pioneered the formation of the College of Medical Administrators of Sri Lanka (CMASL) in 1992, of which he was the Founder President. Later the College made him its Patron. The College was responsible for establishing the MSc and MD in medical administration in the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM), University of Colombo.
In 1994 he retired from the Health Service and joined the WHO Southeast Asia Region as Director Health Systems Development. There he was responsible for ten countries in the region, covering 25 percent of the world’s population. He retired from the WHO in 2000.
George was an old boy of
St Mary’s College, Negombo and St Joseph’s College, Colombo.
He leaves behind his beloved wife Ingrid, three children (one a doctor and one a dental surgeon) and six grandchildren.
Medical Administrators in Sri Lanka are ever grateful to him for his singular achievement of the establishment of CMASL and the degrees of MSc and MD in medical administration conferred by the PGIM.
May he rest in peace. Dr. Lucian Jayasuriya