Around 50 State rural hospitals are minus patients

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

COLOMBO: About 50 state rural hospitals and central dispensaries (state) are not visited by even a single patient, Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry sources said.

“One or two child births are reported from these hospitals occasionally.”

“However, the Central Government and the Provincial Councils pay salaries to the hospital staff and also spend funds to maintain them. Using these funds a mother can be transported to Colombo by a helicopter and sent home the same way after delivery,” the sources said.

Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has ordered officials to conduct an immediate assessment on the hospital system to decide which hospitals need more resources and manpower while which hospitals need not be closed.

The some hospitals, the number of patients visiting during a month is higher than the available resources.