SAITM hospital ready by March
Rs 1,800 million investment for teaching hospital:
Niluka D THILAKARATNE
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Dr Neville Fernando.
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The South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) in
Malabe has invested Rs 1,800 million for the teaching hospital project.
SAITM Chairman Dr Neville Fernando said that out of that, Rs 800 million
is credit from Bank of Ceylon while Rs one billion is from other
investors.
The five storied teaching hospital the first private teaching
hospital in Sri Lanka. It will have a floor area of 250,000 square feet
and will be the largest private hospital in Sri Lanka with 1,002 ward
beds.
“We have planned to finish the first phase of the building by March
of 2012 consisting of four theatres and 250 ward beds. The rest will be
completed within six months,” Dr Fernando said.
“In addition, I have personally invested Rs 700 million for the SAITM
University,” he said.
“We decided to locate the hospital in Malabe as the SAITM campus is
also situated in Malabe. The students will not have to travel very far
to visit their patients and this will be of great convenience to them,”
he said.
This hospital will focus on the low-income population and offer
special 20 percent discount.
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The SAITM in Malabe. |
General medicine, surgery, veterinary surgery, orthopaedics, eye
surgery and cardiac wards with all the equipment found in any other
hospital will be available at this hospital.
“We will have a staff of 75 doctors and 230 nurses and midwives. As
the need arises, we are planning to employ Russian doctors,” he
disclosed.
The South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) was
established in 2008. The institute is affiliated with several foreign
universities, and it is providing degrees and higher national diplomas
to the students in collaboration with these overseas education
institutions.
“We have signed an agreement with the Board of Investments of Sri
Lanka (BOI) to provide training in information technology, management
and finance, engineering, vocational studies and nursing and health
science at four faculties. Those faculties are the Faculty of Medicine,
the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Management and the Faculty of
ICT and Media.”
“We are affiliated with the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy (NNSMA)
in the Russian Federation conferring MD degrees. This course is of five
years duration. The SAITM and the NNSMA have signed a memorandum of
understanding to confer MD degrees to Sri Lankan students,” Dr Fernando
said.
According to this memorandum of understanding, students have to
follow the course for four years in Sri Lanka and they have to study
their final year at the NNSMA. After passing out, according to the
wishes of the students, they will be awarded the Russian MD degree or
the SAITM, MD degree.
SAITM has an auditorium that can seat 450 people, a cafeteria, a
fully equipped library, study areas, ten lecture halls, 21 laboratories,
48 small group lecture theatres and one anatomy dissection hall with 97
campus staff.
[email protected]
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