State of Nawalapitiya hospital at low ebb

Nihal Jayawardene and Kandy North Special Corr

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said eventhough he took pains to develop the Nawalapitiya hospital as a leading hospital in the Central Province its administration and other operations have deteriorated fast to a very low ebb.

He made this observation at a meeting of the Kandy District Development Committee chaired by him on May 20. According the authorities of the Provincial Health Ministry, for this situation, he said this state of affairs was partly due to the transfer of the hospital Director.

Administrative problems had arisen in the hospital due to the newly appointed director’s failure to have a good rapport with the specialist doctors.

The failure on the part of Provincial Health Ministry Authorities to step in an restore this matter was most strange.

He said the Nawalapitiya Base Hospital served a large number of people in remotest villages such as Ulapone, Ganga Ihala, Pasbage, Ginigathena, Kothmale and Ambagamuwa in addition to people in and around Nawalapitiya.

Provincial Health Ministry Secretary Shirani Weerakoon said the former hospital director was transferred to Nuwara Eliya as Acting District Director of Health Services and a Senior Medical Practitioner has been appointed to act as Medical Director of Nawalapitiya hospital by the line Ministry. She has now directed Provincial Health Director to look into the situation and take suitable action if necessary in consultation with all parties concerned.