Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-02-03

Construction of Surgical Unit at the Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa and Supply of Medical Equipment to the same

- The Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa serves more than two million people living in the Eastern Province as well as the people in the adjoining Districts. 95,959 patients have been admitted to this hospital as indoor patients in the year 2015 and of which 36,463 were surgical patients and that number amounts to 40% of the patients admitted. The surgeries performed in this hospital during that year amount to 18,378. However, the infrastructure facilities available at this hospital for the performance of surgeries have to be improved with modern technological equipment facilities. As such, with the objective of providing the public a more qualitative health service, the proposal made by Hon. Faizal Cassim, the Acting Minister of Health, Nutrition & Indigenous Medicine, to implement the project for constructing a surgical unit consisting of 360 patient beds, 10 surgical intensive care beds and 03 operation theaters at the Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa and to provide medical equipment to the same, at an estimated cost of Rs. 275 million, under the assistance of Government of India and to sign the related Memorandum of Understanding, between the Governments of Sri Lanka and India, was approved by the Cabinet.