Lanka Hospitals today announced that it was adjudged 1st runner up at the CIMA Business Case Awards 2013, for their case study on ‘A Thriving Business Model in the State Sector - the Lanka Hospitals Story.’ Mr. Chaaminda Kumarasiri – Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Dinupa Peiris – Management Accountant and Ms. Gayani Kahandawala – Management Accountant were among the team that spearheaded the case study for Lanka Hospitals.   

The CIMA Business Case Awards is a competition that recognises organisational success and turnarounds, whilst identifying what drove such outcomes. This year corporates were invited to compete in the business arena, submitting business cases on ‘ground breaking’ initiatives which have built and sustained success, whilst beating competition. Applicants were required to identify and narrate a specific real-life occurrence in their own organisation, presenting the case and findings and indicating the learning to the wider community.

The case study by Lanka Hospitals clearly detailed how the business model of a poorly performing private sector entity was completely revolutionized when it came under the ownership of the state sector and how the negative perceptions of the public towards state sector entities were successfully managed. The case study clearly showcased with factual evidence how Lanka Hospital faced this challenge successfully and ultimately delivered superior business performance within a short span after coming under state control.

Speaking about this accolade the CEO of Lanka Hospitals, Lakith Peiris was quick to praise the diligence and commitment of the team that worked on the case study while highlighting the important role played by all staff in maintaining the highest standards so that patients are afforded the best possible clinical outcome. “This is a fantastic achievement by Lanka Hospitals in securing the runner up position at this flagship event from over 30 applicants. It is truly an honour for our business model to be recognized at such a prestigious forum and we are all very proud to have been involved in the resurgence Lanka Hospitals.”

The CFO of Lanka Hospitals who was also the Team Leader for the Business Case Study, Chaaminda Kumarasiri said; “One of the interesting things I noted at Lanka Hospitals as a finance professional is the outstanding financial performance along with a strong zero debt balance sheet, while being the most affordable city hospital. When we got together to look at options for the Business Case we realized it’s not any element in isolation that has contributed to the success and we observed there are many unique features in the Lanka Hospitals’ Business Model. We decided to unfold these unique features for any organization that seeks business excellence to review and adopt accordingly. The main point we wanted to stress is ‘being in the state sector is not a hindrance for business excellence as long as you have the right recipe in your Business Model’. I must thank my two management accountants Dinupa Pieris and Gayani Kahandawala for their tireless efforts in producing this wonderful Business Case. We also got a tremendous support from our CEO and the rest of the managerial staff and I take this opportunity to thank CIMA for facilitating this flagship event.”

The cases were judged by an eminent panel including Professor Uditha Liyanage as Moderator and Chairman of the Organising Committee, Dr. Travis Perera, Ravi Edirisinghe, Dr. Arul Sivagananathan, and Mr. Manil Jayesinghe.

Lanka Hospitals holds a track record of winning many accolades at both national and global level. Most recent being the Global Performance Excellence Award 2013 (GPEA) which is a ‘world class’ recognition awarded in the highest category to any organization on the Malcolm Baldrige Quality criteria. In addition, Lanka hospitals was the first hospital to be rated AA by Brand Finance in 2010, the only hospital in Sri Lanka to be awarded with an ISO 22000: 2005 certificate for Food Safety Management Systems, 5 out of 5 Crowns and rated excellent for meeting international standards in food quality and hygiene, the only hospital to be awarded the prestigious National Quality Award for the year 2012 after a span of 15 years, first hospital in Sri Lanka to be certified with the ISO: 15189 accreditation for Laboratory services, only hospital to be rated A+/P1 (Stable) by RAM Ratings for two consecutive years for financial stability and future outlook and to be awarded with the ISO 14001:2004 for Environmental Management systems in 2013 among many other achievements.