Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital - an encomium

To understand the strength of a fellow human being, you don't have to enter a wrestling match; you only have to observe how the men and women in a hospital heal patients.

- BY LOKUBANDA TILLAKARATNE

The following is the magnanimity of human nature explained in a nutshell. This story is not fiction or hearsay. These are compelling comments on humanity, bravery, strength, life, and sadly, death, I witnessed firsthand recently during my three-day stay in Ward 61 at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital for fever, chest pain, buildup of fluid in the space around my heart, and a few other problems. This hospital has been a medical outpost since its inception in the 1950s. However, after it became a teaching hospital, the whole institution gained wide recognition and gave new meaning to all things health in the region. It is the third largest hospital in Sri Lanka.

Now, its Wards are not just numbers; they distribute the highest brands of medical expertise. They are not your run-of-the-mill half-walled hospital Wards, but bursting with knowledge Hippocrates worked all his life to master.

Wards 61 and 62 are Professorial Wards served by devoted, brilliant men and women of the highest medical learning and authority. They make these places sacred by healing. Descendants of Dhanvantari (doctor to Devas) and Saint Sebastian (Saint of Medicine) take turns to walk the hallways here with stethoscopes dangling in their hands. White-crowned nurses attend and show kindness to patients as if they were their children.

I was in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) of Ward 61 with three other patients who were attached to electronic monitors, which provided nonstop beeping symphonies to my tired ears. Before long, I thought I was sitting in the orchestra pit of an opera house, where musicians were tuning their instruments before the start of the show. This whole time, my wife, Niranjala, the angel of angels, held my hand, helping me with soothing words to ease my pain and worries.