Surgical Unit at Batticalao Hospital built under Indian grant declared open

High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha and Secretary, Ministry of Health of Sri Lanka, Dr. Palitha Gunaratna Mahipala jointly declared open the new unit at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital.

The newly constructed Surgical Unit at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital under Indian grant facility was declared open yesterday jointly High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha and Secretary, Ministry of Health of Sri Lanka, Dr. Palitha Gunaratna Mahipala. 

Government Agent Batticaloa, Mrs. Muralidharan; Eastern Provincial Health Secretary and Municipal Commissioner Batticaloa, Mr. Sivalingam; Director, Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, Dr. Kalaranchane Ganeshalingam; senior officials from the Ministry of Health of Sri Lanka, Eastern Provincial Council and Batticaloa District Administration; and staff of the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, among others, attended the event.

The need for a new surgical ward was identified at the hospital around 2015 due to the escalating number of patients admitted to wards, and the growing number of surgeries performed. At the time of the proposal, approximately 1280 patients were on waiting lists for surgeries. Due to the hospital's limited facilities, patients had to face excessive waiting times, the Indian High Commission said in a statement. 

At the request of the government, the  Indian government agreed to extend assistance for construction of the new surgical unit. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in February 2016, for grant assistance from India of SLR 275 million towards the project. Subsequently, the Government of India infused additional funds, taking the total Indian commitment to SLR 302 million for the project.

The scope of the project encompassed construction of a two-story building with an approximate total floor area of 1464 square meters, with four state-of-the-art operation theatres and ten ICU beds, along with essential infrastructure such as IT works, mechanical works, electrical work, water supply and drainage systems.

Though the Covid-19 pandemic and economic difficulties in the country posed some challenges over the course of the project, the original scope of work was recently completed, which was followed by testing and commissioning of the facility. In addition, based on requests from the hospital authorities, Government of India approved and executed several additional elements such as integrating components including generators, medical gas, and electrical systems from the neighbouring renal care unit into the new surgical unit.

At the inauguration ceremony on 4th November, Secretary, Ministry of Health of Sri Lanka, Dr. Mahipala conveyed the gratitude of the Government of Sri Lanka to the Government of India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for the project, which fulfills a significant requirement in unimpeded provision of critical medical services by the hospital. In this regard, Director, Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, Dr. Kalaranchane Ganeshalingam highlighted that the newly built surgical unit is expected to reduce 50% of the waiting lists for surgeries, and benefit 3,000 to 5,000 new patients each year, thus considerably improving access to quality healthcare services in the region.

 High Commissioner  Santosh Jha highlighted various proposed, planned and ongoing bilateral projects—both, investment-led and grant assistance-based—in Sri Lanka, particularly in the Eastern Province. On the investment front, he cited the development of tank farms, solar power plant in Sampur and the multiproduct pipeline.