Presidential Remarks at the AGM

Dr. Sudath K. Dharmaratne

31.01.2025

The Patron of the College

All Past presidents

Outgoing President, Dr Kumara Wickramasinghe and the council

Office bearers and the members of the new council

Members of the college 

Good evening. 

For me, it is indeed a great honuor, a rare privilege and humble obligation to be the President of the College of Medical Administrators of Sri Lanka this year.

At the outset, I would like to thank Dr Kumara Wickramasinghe, outgoing President, and the council for their exemplary work done and giving me the baton to continue from there. 

Let me thank the Chairperson of the Election committee for conducting a fair election and the members of the college for electing   very capable members for the council. I have selected an able secretary, Dr Anton Fernando, whom I believe is dependable and a person who has a lot of experience of being a council member for three years. He was also the provincial coordinator of Northwestern Province for the last few years. I thank Dr Fernando who has accepted this post without any hesitation as he cannot thank himself when he is  proposing the vote of thanks at the end of this event.

I am very happy to see, Dr Priyantha Karunaratne as the treasurer of the college whom I believe, will  carry out his duties with utmost honesty and integrity. I have a council with diverse expertise, with different calibers. I thank all of them for their willingness to join my council. We will work as a one team and march towards achieving, all college activities successfully this year.

In this year as per the provisions provided in the Constitution and keeping with the college traditions, I’ll be working with my council to achieve the objectives of this college.

The first council meeting will be held on 7th of February 2025 at the college office. The date of the council meetings will be planned in the calendar year and dates will fall in line with Health development committee meeting dates as well as the director’s meeting days so that all the provincial coordinators will be able to participate. 

 I’ll be establishing all five standing committees of the college, management, academic, social, grievance handling, and IT and media committees. Ex-officio members will be invited to the standing committees and some life members among you will be co-opted for these committees to add more strength for the college activities. These committees will be appointed at the next council meeting.

We need recreation and building relationships. So college members outing day, council outing day will be planned with my council.

I will harness the knowledge and the wisdom of my mentors, Dr Reggie Perara, Dr Dalpatadu, Dr Samarage, and Dr Gnanissara, Dr Sanath Gunasekara, Dr Lucian Jayasooriya, Dr Manil Fernando, Dr Palitha Mahipala, Dr Anil Jasinghe,. I also wish to get the expertise of Dr Sunil De Alwis, Dr Amal Harsha De Silva, Dr. Mrs. Rani Fernando, Dr Mrs Neelamani Hewageegana, Dr Asela Gunawardane, Dr Lal Panapitiya, Dr Kumara Wickramasinghe and other Past Presidents to uplift the image of the college in the time to come. 

We’ll get the blessings of the Secretary of Health and the Director General of Health Services who are the past presidents to solve management issues of our members. I, with my council, will collaborate with relevant ministry officials, professional colleges and academia and international organizations to enhance the knowledge and skills of our members in their academic and managerial pursuits.

I believe that developing the next generation of medical administrators will be a crucial factor to ensure sustainable medical leadership.

We have to energize them, look after them and develop them. I kindly request past presidents who have so far managed the health sector with their wisdom, dedication and commitment to share their experience with us. 

“Managing health care with Leadership Wisdom” will be my theme for this year.  It depends on three pillars, 

Academic Excellence, Managerial Excellence and Emotional Intelligence, 

As the President of the college, I kindly solicit your support    to achieve success in all endeavors of the college this year.

I quote: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who is a famous poet

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.” Unquote.

This saying emphasizes all of us to work hard to achieve success in a slow and steady manner with perseverance.

Thank you so much for keeping trust in me and the council. We will work together to achieve more success in the field of medical administration. I wish all of you good health and a pleasant year 2025.

Dr Sudath K Dharmaratne

The President College of Medical Administrators of Sri Lanka