• Latest
The Lady Ridgeway Hospital For Children A History Beyond Medicine

The Lady Ridgeway Hospital For Children A History Beyond Medicine

January 24, 2023
Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

March 3, 2023
Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

March 3, 2023
DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

March 3, 2023
A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

March 3, 2023
The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

February 7, 2023
Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

February 7, 2023
The Art of Local Writing

The Art of Local Writing

February 7, 2023
Carnival Magic

Carnival Magic

February 7, 2023
Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

January 11, 2023
Rumination and Emotional Process

Rumination and Emotional Process

January 13, 2023
Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

January 11, 2023
Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

January 11, 2023
Retail
Friday, March 31, 2023
Subscription
Advertise
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
        • January 2010
        • February 2010
        • March 2010
        • April 2010
        • May 2010
        • June 2010
        • July 2010
        • August 2010
        • September 2010
        • October 2010
        • November 2010
        • December 2010
      • 2011
        • January 2011
        • February 2011
        • March 2011
        • April 2011
        • May 2011
        • June 2011
        • July 2011
        • August 2011
        • September 2011
        • October 2011
        • November 2011
        • December 2011
      • 2012
        • January 2012
        • February 2012
        • March 2012
        • April 2012
        • May 2012
        • June 2012
        • July 2012
        • August 2012
        • September 2012
        • October 2012
        • November 2012
        • December 2012
      • 2013
        • January 2013
        • February 2013
        • March 2013
        • April 2013
        • May 2013
        • June 2013
        • July 2013
        • August 2013
        • September 2013
        • October 2013
        • November 2013
        • December 2013
      • 2014
        • January 2014
        • February 2014
        • March 2014
        • April 2014
        • May 2014
        • June 2014
        • July 2014
        • August 2014
        • September 2014
        • October 2014
        • November 2014
        • December 2014
      • 2015
        • January 2015
        • February 2015
        • March 2015
        • April 2015
        • May 2015
        • June 2015
        • July 2015
        • August 2015
        • September 2015
        • October 2015
        • November 2015
        • December 2015
      • 2016
        • January 2016
        • February 2016
        • March 2016
        • April 2016
        • May 2016
        • June 2016
        • July 2016
        • August 2016
        • September 2016
        • October 2016
        • November 2016
        • December 2016
      • 2017
        • January 2017
        • February 2017
        • March 2017
        • April 2017
        • May 2017
        • June 2017
        • July 2017
        • August 2017
        • September 2017
        • October 2017
        • November 2017
        • December 2017
      • 2018
        • January 2018
        • February 2018
        • March 2018
        • April 2018
        • May 2018
        • June 2018
        • July 2018
        • August 2018
        • November 2018
        • December 2018
      • 2019
        • January 2019
        • February 2019
        • March 2019
        • April 2019
        • May 2019
        • June 2019
        • July 2019
        • August 2019
        • September 2019
        • October 2019
        • November 2019
        • December 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
        • January 2020
        • February 2020
        • March 2020
        • September 2020
        • October 2020
        • November 2020
        • December 2020
      • 2021
        • January 2021
        • February 2021
        • March 2021
        • April 2021
        • May 2021
        • June 2021
        • July 2021
        • August 2021
        • September 2021
        • October 2021
        • November 2021
        • December 2021
      • 2022
        • January 2022
        • February 2022
        • March 2022
        • April 2022
        • May 2022
        • June 2022
        • July 2022
        • August 2022
        • September 2022
        • October 2022
        • November 2022
        • December 2022
      • 2023
        • January 2023
        • February 2023
        • March 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

The Lady Ridgeway Hospital For Children A History Beyond Medicine

in December 2012, Featured, Slider
0 0
0
The Lady Havelock Hospital c. 1910 (Photograph: Skeen & Co)

During the period 1890–1895 when Sir Arthur Havelock was Governor of Ceylon, one of his greatest achievements was making available many advances and new awareness in medical science to the Island’s inhabitants. Until the late 19th Century, children were treated as miniature adults before paediatrics emerged as a speciality. So one chief medical institution for which this Governor was officially responsible, although his wife provided the impetus, was a children’s hospital.

Words: Richard Boyle

The remarkable but unpublished account of this hospital has now been revealed by Professor Manouri P Senanayake in Paediatrics and Child Care in Sri Lanka: The Past Unfolded. Professor Senanayake states that this history began when George Wall, a tea planter and philanthropist, discussed with Lady Havelock the innovative idea of creating a separate hospital for women and children. Enthused, Lady Havelock headed a committee to raise funds from the public, which amounted to 46,000 rupees. Consequently, on January 17, 1895, the Governor laid the foundation stone of what was to be called the Lady Havelock Hospital for Women and Children (LHH).

It took over a year to build, by which time Sir Arthur Havelock had been succeeded as Governor by Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, and so it was Lady Ridgeway who ceremonially opened the hospital on October 12, 1896. A grand occasion supported by several local companies was planned, but, as the Sinhala daily newspaper Lakrivikirana reported: “rain somewhat dampened the grandeur of the occasion and some of the planned pageantry could not take place, nevertheless a large gathering of distinguished persons graced the occasion.”

“At exactly 4.30pm the Honourable Sir and Lady Ridgeway accompanied by their daughter arrived. A volunteer band struck up as they alighted from their vehicle and they were welcomed by Dr Kynsey [Principal Civil Medical Officer]. Lady Ridgeway was presented with a memento of the occasion, a silver casket in which lay a silver key.”

There followed a blessing by the Archdeacon of Colombo and an address by Dr Kynsey in which he explained how the hospital had come into existence mainly due to George Wall, who, alas, died before its completion. Lady Ridgeway conveyed how sad Lady Havelock was for being unable to attend and declared open the free-of-charge hospital, which was bedecked with ferns and flowers for the occasion.

Situated in spacious environs in the Colombo suburb of Borella, the hospital’s architecture was of typical British colonial-style with red terracotta walls, ornate windows, and imposing colonnades…

Situated in spacious environs in the Colombo suburb of Borella, the hospital’s architecture was of typical British colonial-style with red terracotta walls, ornate windows, and imposing colonnades, the columns interspersed with shade-giving tats that ensured a cool, surrounding corridor and interior.

The hospital was furnished and decorated by commercial sponsors, and the first matron was quoted as saying she had “never seen such a neatly fitted hospital”. There were four wards, each with six beds and two cots (the latter with red coverlets embroidered with the letters “LHH”), and six separate rooms for paying patients – 32 beds in total. The wards were named after donors who had contributed over 4,000 rupees, the separate rooms after donors who contributed over 1,000 rupees, and even some beds after donors who contributed over 500 rupees. It was truly a hospital by the people for the people.

Soon after the opening, Ceylon’s first nursing school was established at the hospital, of significance as this was just 18 years after Florence Nightingale had opened her school in London. It was run by a British matron, who Professor Senanayake believes may well have been trained by Nightingale as she was reported to have “a keen interest in the sanitary and health measures adopted in India and the colonies”.

Mention of “The Lady with the Lamp” makes it important to remember that Sri Lanka possesses a remarkable indigenous medicinal heritage: a herbal practice of medicine called Hela-Veda, hospitals before Rome, Egypt or China, kings who were dedicated physicians, and women who nursed wounded soldiers seven centuries before Nightingale. But then, as in all civilizations, there was a decline…

In a later, westernised era of medicine, the impressive LHH soon became crowded and understaffed, and problems arose because the children were not accommodated separately. So on February 26, 1909, the then Governor, Sir Henry McCullum, laid the foundation stone for the construction of a separate block for children funded once again by public subscription, on this occasion under the patronage of Lady Ridgeway. Opened on September 27, 1910, this new section was called the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH), a two-storey building “with a majestic interior of decorative flooring, an ornate balustrade and a sweeping wooden staircase”.

Thus one hospital became two, creating the country’s first independent children’s hospital. However, it wasn’t until 1937 that a paediatrician was appointed, a major turning point for child care. After Independence in 1948 the Ministry of Health adopted plans to progressively reconstruct the LRH. The first wing of the new hospital containing new wards was opened in 1950 (the year the LRH acquired its first X-ray machine), the Outpatient Department (OPD) in 1957, the rest of the wards in 1961, and a new operating theatre in 1971.

As for the Lady Havelock Hospital, it ceased to exist in 1954 when the nearby Castle Street Hospital for women opened. The remaining buildings were demolished in the mid-1990s to make way for a ten-storey wing funded by the Chinese government that was opened in 2000, increasing the number of beds from 700 to 1,100, apparently making it the world’s largest children’s hospital.

Today, the LRH serves as the national referral centre for paediatric medical and surgical care for children below 12 years of age. It also serves as a local hospital for the population in and around Colombo. The number of beds has been rationalised to 900, so the LRH may not now be the world’s largest. Nevertheless, this hospital, its services and achievements, are of record proportions.

There are 22 wards and six special units, with 450 doctors (both interns and residents), 44 consultants, 600 Registered Nurses, and a total staff of 2,100. The OPD, open around the clock, attends to 2,500–3,000 patients a day (that’s one million a year), out of which some 230 are admitted. There are similar 24-hour Accident and Emergency Treatment Unit services. In keeping with the state healthcare policy of the Sri Lankan Government all services are free of charge.

In addition, the LRH acts as a premier teaching hospital under the Ministry of Health, and is responsible for undergraduate and most of the post-graduate medical and surgical paediatric training in Sri Lanka.

The Lady Havelock Hospital for Women and Children, and the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children which it became has undergone much change in the past 116 years apart from nomenclature and specialisation. From the philanthropic concept of a tea planter, the dedication of not one but two British Governors’ wives, the initial outstanding public support, and comparatively modest beginnings, arose an iconic medical institution that has steadily developed to provide the entire nation with exemplary paediatric care for children.

[nggallery id=441]

TweetShareShare
Please login to join discussion

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Explore Sri Lanka

Explore Sri Lanka Online, the web edition of Sri Lanka’s leading monthly corporate publication. Founded in 1996, the magazine currently has a distribution of over 6,000 copies island-wide.

Recent News

  • Investec Cape Town Art Fair
  • Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development
  • DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Find Us

Explore Sri Lanka
20-2/1 Lauries Place Facing
R. A. De Mel Mawatha
Colombo 04
Sri Lanka.
(+94 11) 259 7991
(+94) 715 134 134
info@btoptions.com
btoptions.com

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
      • 2011
      • 2012
      • 2013
      • 2014
      • 2015
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
      • 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
      • 2021
      • 2022
      • 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In