Setting up medical clinics in her motherland is her vision
View(s):By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
She is a busy Infectious Disease Physician across the seas in America. Having begun her career as a doctor in Sri Lanka, Dr. Diane Sinnatamby is now set on helping men, women and children in underserved areas in the land of her birth.
“My vision is to set up medical clinics in such areas,” says Dr. Sinnatamby, in an email interview with the Sunday Times……and she hopes to garner support from local Lions and Rotary Clubs, being a Rotary Group Study Exchange alumna, as well as colleagues and local church and temple communities.
Diane seeing patients at the Seenigama clinic
Before we focus on her vision and how she would make it a reality, we look back at her childhood and medical faculty and training years.
With over 25 years of clinical experience, this award-winning physician is currently attached to the Bon Secours Mercy Infectious Disease Memorial Regional Medical Center, Mechanicsville, Virginia. She has been honoured with ‘Top Docs in Infectious Disease’ in Virginia (2020-2025) and Richmond (2021-2025) awards; recognition by the Governor of Virginia in 2025 as a ‘Top Doc’; and the ‘COVID Unsung Hero Award’ (Richmond Magazine), one of only 10 healthcare providers to win it, for extraordinary service during the pandemic.
Physicians usually receive a ‘Top Doc’ award probably once in their careers, it is understood. She she was “honoured” to be recognised in the past five years.
Her love of medicine had taken root as a child of around 4, when she would “play” doctor, doing her rounds on her tricycle armed with a home-made stethoscope and bandages, with her dolls as patients.
Her passion had been sparked on seeing doctors in action when she was in hospital due to bronchitis. It was a passion which endured while she was a student of Ladies’ College, reinforced when her Dad passed away when she was a teenager.
“I resolved that I would become a physician to help prevent sudden unexpected losses for others,” says Dr. Sinnatamby.
She was interested in internal medicine, with the evolving and fascinating sub-speciality of infectious diseases, spread by bacteria, viruses (COVID-19 being one such which shook the world recently), fungi and parasites.
Having excelled academically while serving as School Prefect, Librarian and Captain of the Chess Club, she had entered the North Colombo Medical College, Ragama, passed out and completed her internship at the Kegalle Hospital. She had also served at Galgamuwa, the Military Hospital in Colombo and Panadura, before moving to the US, taking up her true passion of clinical medicine after a brief interlude with genetics.
Having completed her residency and fellowship in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey, affiliated with Seton Hall University, currently, she works for a large non-profit Catholic organization with hospitals and medical offices across seven states.
Earlier, she had been Medical Director in Florida for a Los Angeles based global non-profit organization in 48 countries and over 16 states in the US, providing advanced HIV/AIDS medical care.
Even after moving to Mechanicsville, Dr. Sinnatamby has continued to serve low-income communities, where she has established an HIV clinic to provide care for underserved patients.
Recalling that as a medical student she volunteered at a health clinic in Colombo and Seenigama, Dr. Sinnatamby says this is how the idea of setting up community-based clinics took hold of her.
She has reached out to a church in Kandy, where her mother and strong supporter, Sakuntala Sinnatamby lives, requesting them to consider such a clinic for minor ailments. Dr. Sinnatamby says that currently she works full-time in the US, but this project will become a strong focus as she reduces her clinical responsibilities there.
When asked about funding and sustainability of such clinics, she says she would be happy to assist by raising funds. However, at present, she and her husband, Russ Moon, who is also very supportive of her dream, have family commitments including to daughter Ada who is still in school.
Agreeing that Sri Lanka has a “great” network of hospitals and Medical Officer of Health (MOH) units, she says that the system is overloaded.
“My vision is to start small and grow according to the needs in the area. These clinics will serve to provide care for common ailments such as colds, cough, minor infections, hypertension while doing blood sugar checks etc. These clinics will combine clinical knowledge with compassionate, patient-centred care and will mostly be community driven,” she adds.
Any person or organization who is interested in seeking more information about Dr. Sinnatamby’s clinic project may contact her via Linked In.
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