Government to introduce non-paying wards in private hospitals

The Government is to introduce non-paying wards in private hospitals, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Wickremesinghe said that the Government is looking at the possibility of introducing paying wards in Government hospitals and non-paying wards in private hospitals.

He said the Government will take the tab for the treatment made in non-paying wards in private hospitals.

The President also said that a separate unit would be established to send military personnel overseas to help in times of health disasters.

He made these observation addressing the inauguration ceremony of the 6th annual academic sessions of the Sri Lanka College of Military Medicine (SLCOMM) held under the theme ‘Resilience of Military Medicine In the Times of Crisis’ at the Eagles Lagoon in Katunayake.

“I’m looking at the possibility of using our military medical personnel to send abroad when the people are faced with health disasters. Health disasters take place more often than natural disasters and I would discuss this matter with the military to establish a unit in this regard. So that’s a new chapter for military medicine,” the President said.

The President also said that under the Indian credit line the Government is to get more medicine to address the shortage during the crisis.

He added that the Government is working on making more foreign exchange available to the medical sector.

The President further said that discussions are ongoing with the Ministry of Health to upgrade the Medical Research Institute (MRI) into one of the best medical research laboratories in the region. (Colombo Gazette)