Posted by “Working at the IWK was actually one of my lifelong dreams since I came to Canada,” says Sanjee Ekanayake. I came here with a three month old little boy so sometimes I had to take him to IWK for care and seeing how gentle the workers are, and the patient experience that I had, made me really want to work here one day.”
Sanjee Ekanayake is the administrative assistant to the director of Quality, Patient Safety and Patient Experience at the IWK. Originally from Sri Lanka, Ekanayake moved to Canada in 2007 and began working at the IWK in March of 2018.
Only being at the IWK for a little over one year, Ekanayake is heavily involved in one of the biggest projects at the IWK: Accreditation.
Accreditation is an ongoing, objective process to assess health care organizations against standards of excellence to identify what is being done well and what needs to be improved. An assessment takes place every four years and at that time, the organization hosts independent surveyors for several days.
“Right now, my main role is coordinating everything for the Accreditation Canada visit. There are a lot of documents and binders that need to be prepared, catering needs to be organized, there are IT infrastructure needs, scheduling and for some people, I am the primary contact so I do my best to help others prepare too,” says Ekanayake.
Ekanayake enjoys the variety in her work and the chance to grow her skills. “I always like to gather more experience and learn about new things. When I came into this role, I was looking to see where I can enhance and I saw the perfect opportunity here,” Ekanayake says.
With her husband and two sons, Ekanayake are happy to call Halifax their community. She also serves as the vice president for the Sri Lanka Canada Association for the Atlantic Region.
“For many different milestones and different situations in my life, Halifax has been one of the best places to live in and I feel so comfortable and safe in this environment. I have always wanted to use my skills and expertise to serve the community and I think working at the IWK has been one of the best opportunities to do that.”