Ministry to reopen 91 closed state hospitals

Among them 60 in N-E:

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

The Health Ministry will re-open 91 state hospitals and state medical institutions closed for decades especially due to war. Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena had ordered to re-open them, a ministry spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the medical institutions will re-open next month. “Minister Sirisena was informed about the abandoned state medical institutions about two months ago. A total of 97 state medical institutions countrywide were closed for the past few decades due to the war and lack of human resources. Out of this, 91 will be re-opened next month,” he said. “Among them are 26 central dispensaries, 26 district hospitals, 16 MoH offices and 23 other state medical institutions. Most state medical institutions to be re-opened are in the North and East. Those institutions were closed due to terrorism and war,” the spokesman said.

“Nearly 60 state hospitals in the North and East will be re-opened. Thirty three will be re-opened in the North and 15 will be re-opened in the East,” he said.

The rest of the institutions which will reopen next month are in other parts of the country.