Dr. Sathaharan Sundaralingam, 'Will Be Greatly Missed'
(By James A. Mitchell, VeAhavta Press Officer)

"With great sadness," VeAhavta President and Founder Eric Parkinson reported the departure of Dr. Sathaharan Sundaralingam, who left Mercy Home and the Grace Care Center July 29 due to a transfer to a Colombo medical facility.
"Dr. Satha," as residents, staff and VeAhavta volunteers know him, was far more than simply a visiting physician. Friend, teacher, advisor were how Satha was known; he was instrumental in keeping the Grace community going against a host of challenges.
"He's been a kind and loyal friend, and a positive role model for the staff and children," Parkinson said. "Without his help in Mercy Home's first critical year of operation, the facility never would have been the success it is."
Satha's partnership with VeAhavta and Grace Care Center began in early 2005, when the first post-tsunami volunteer team investigated a partnership with Trincomalee General Hospital -- at which Satha was senior medical officer -- and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Visiting doctors included Rushdi Abdul Cader, Naresh Gunaratnam, Cheryl Huckins and Gina Amalfitano; the initial plan was an offer to help. Instead, the American doctors realized how much they could learn from Sri Lankan physicians, who worked with severely limited resources.
"They're very smart," Amalfitano said of Satha and his staff. "They make the most out of what they have."
From advisor and consultant, Satha quickly became a familiar face at Mercy Home following its May 2005 opening. The facility's administrative planners, Huckins and Amalfitano, were in frequent contact with Satha as the beds at Mercy filled with elders, each with complicated medical histories that Satha patiently tended while educating the staff.
"Every staff member and their families have received kind and expert care," Amalfitano said of Satha's informal residency. "The staff have learned and grown under his tutelage."
Satha learned his patient demeanor from experience. In the early 1990s, his name was first on the list of applicants for the University of Jaffna Medical School, an education that took nearly twice as long as usual: Twice the campus fell victim to the explosions of war, and classes had to be relocated.
That patience was further tested by the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami. Satha virtually lived at Trincomalee General Hospital, and a small staff struggled against a dramatic increase to an already overwhelming caseload. Patients lay on mats in crowded basement hallways, infants doubled or tripled up on limited bed space. During January, the hospital averaged between 700 and 1,000 outpatient visits daily.
Still, each patient received the same dedication that Satha brought to Mercy Home, where he made regular visits, separate from his exhausting responsibilities at the hospital. Diane McLaughlin, manager of Grace Care Center, said that replacing Satha might be done from a medical standpoint, but he had become far more than just a doctor.
"He is a great human being with a heart of gold," said McLaughlin, who will remember her casual conversations with Satha as much as his work. "His sense of humor with the elders and staff really added quite a spin on elder care over here."
McLaughlin said Satha worked tirelessly during the early months of Mercy Home, training the staff to care for elders who haven't had access to medical care for years, if not decades. Satha told McLaughlin he enjoyed working with the people of Grace Care Center, and that Mercy Home was among the best facilities of its kind in Sri Lanka.
"The man will be greatly missed," McLaughlin said.

Above: Dr. Satha speaking with Hiram Labrooy, Mercy Home Program Director,
during a staff training session

Above: Dr. Satha speaking during his farewell ceremony at Mercy Home

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