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A caring hospital under State control

Lanka Hospitals took a new direction with former Apollo hospitals coming under State control and with the appointment of the new Board of Directors. This was as a result of Lanka Hospitals majority shareholder Sri Lanka Insurance reverting to State control following a Supreme Court order. As per the new vision of the Chairman and the Board, Lanka Hospitals have already put in place a number of strategic initiatives to propel Lanka Hospitals to be positioned as a world class hospital, its CEO, Lakith Peiris said.

How did you start your career in the healthcare industry?

I started my career at the age of 18 in the pharmaceutical industry. I am what I am today is because of my father. He has always been my role model and the guiding star. It was he who advised me and persuaded me to join the pharmaceutical industry letting go of my desire to be a flight attendant. I have been in the healthcare industry for over 20 years now. I have been heading and guiding both large multinational and Sri Lankan healthcare organizations for the last 15 years.

How do you see the healthcare industry today?

The healthcare sector is one of the fastest growing areas. The growth is driven by a multitude of factors. Change in disease patterns, change in lifestyle, change in the environment and shifting demographics are the main contributors. With economic development more people will shift from State sector healthcare providers to private health care facilities for treatment.

This will further increase demand. Hence, it's motivating to see more investments being focused on health care.

More competition will drive all hospitals to be more efficient which in turn will benefit the end user. We need to build a healthier community. Hence, we should welcome new players to the industry.

Lanka Hospitals will continuously set new benchmarks for all others to follow. We will also set up a chain of hospitals to take quality health-care at an affordable price to people living outside Colombo as part of our strategic initiatives.

What are the challenges you have faced in the healthcare industry?

The challenge in general the industry faces today is the low returns on capital, though there is high growth. The reason for low return can be attributed to low margins earned on services provided. There are many contributing factors to this. However, the sector is showing signs of improvement.

Re-branding our organization is one of the main challenges I have faced. It was possibly the riskiest decision the management had to take. A brand is a valuable asset, communicating a clear set of values to its stakeholders. Re-branding, by definition changing that identity, must be seen as a serious strategic decision, requiring careful planning. I'm glad we took this challenge head on. Our re-branding exercise has taken the organization to a whole new dimension and we are already reaping the benefits of the change.

We have re-launched the entirety of our service portfolio in a strategic bid to notch our services to an all new standard. In doing so, we have benchmarked some of the best hospital models in the world.

We have and we are in the process of re-designing our processes by adopting international best practices. We will not stop until we are recognized as one of the best hospitals in the region.

As a part of our vision, we want Lanka Hospitals to be recognized as the national healthcare provider and a pride to our nation. In this effort, we will continue with the good things of Apollo but have eliminated areas that did not create value and have adopted international best practices.

Lanka Hospitals have come a long way since the ownership changed. I would like to invite the health conscious public to come and experience the standards we have now set.

Furthermore, as a part of our broader vision, Lanka Hospitals in future will set up a chain of hospitals to take quality healthcare at an affordable price to people living outside Colombo.

We have identified the real needs of the customer segments we want to serve. We are also aware that most these needs are currently un-met by the private sector healthcare institutions.

Our objective is to match these un-met needs by offering a total healthcare solution under one roof at an affordable price.

Have you achieved your goals?

I have achieved all my dreams I had as a teenager. I'm a dreamer. Hence I keep setting new goals to different areas of my life. It will be a never ending process.

What is your philosophy in life?

Treat others the way you want others to treat you.

What is your advice to young people who wish to climb the corporate ladder?

Be honest, have total commitment and dedication towards everything you do, learn and acquire skills continuously. You should focus on appearance - In business, your first impression is always the last impression. People like to deal with people who are well groomed.

You should be able to project that spitting image of that successful person they have in mind. Finally and most importantly, be humble. This is my advice to aspiring youngsters.

How do you spend your leisure time?

Love to spend time with my wife, two sons and my father.

Serving the lord in my own little way and read newspapers.

What is Lanka Hospitals expansion plan?

Lanka Hospitals have a number of strategic initiatives to achieve the status as the national healthcare provider to build a healthier community and to be recognized as one of the best healthcare providers in the South Asian region.

We will increase capacity at the existing facility this year. We have already invested on state-of-the-art equipment in the areas of interventional cardiology, radiology, general and lap surgery, renal care etc.

We will continue to invest on advanced technology that sets us apart from the rest of the city hospitals.

We will start centres of excellence in many important areas very soon. It's already underway.

These centres of excellence will be unmatched in the areas of patient care, medical treatment, technology, facilities, processes, knowledge base and clinical outcomes and certainly will set new standards and benchmarks in Sri Lanka.

We will further expand our laboratory services and pharmacy outlets, will establish new medical units and departments and will also set up a chain of hospitals in time to come to take quality healthcare at an affordable price to people living outside Colombo as a part of our strategic initiatives.

 

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