Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

NFTH - Managed by 14-member board of directors from Aug.1

- BY SANDUN A JAYASEKERA

The Board of Directors will administer the hospital until such time an Act similar to the Sri Jayawardan­apura Hospital Act is enacted or for a twoyear interim period which ever comes first Action is being taken to handover the NFTH to my ministry on August 1 under the Letter of Intent dated July 17 and signed by three concerned parties

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said his proposal to appoint a 14-member Board of Directors to administer the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) acquired by the government recently has been approved by the Cabinet.

He said the NFTH would begin operations under the new board of directors on August 1.

“The Board of Directors is headed by Dr. U A. Mendis, who is a former Director General of Health Services. The Board of Directors will administer the hospital until such time an Act similar to the Sri Jayawardan­apura Hospital Act is enacted or for a two-year interim period which ever comes first,” the minister said.

Other members of the Board of Directors are: Dr. N.E.L.W. Jayasekara, a former Director General of Health Services of the Navy Healthcare service; Dr. P.L Atapattu (Director Medical Services of the Health Ministry) nominated by the Health Minister; Finance Minister’s nominee yet to be decided; Chartered Accountant Dinesh Weerakkody; Senior Lawyer Sarath Liyanage; Management Specialist Dr. Kapila Ranasinghe; Consultant Dental Surgeon and Health Economist Dr. Dilip de Silva; Prof Sarath Wijesooriy­a, a distinguis­hed representa­tive of civil society groups; Specialist Consultant Prof. D.K. Samarage; Consultant Pediatrici­an Dr. Randula Samarasing­he; Consultant Physician Dr M.N.K Pinto; Consultant Surgeon Prof. Deepal Weerasekar­a; Consultant Obstetrici­an and Gynecologi­st (a nominee of the SAITM Medical Faculty Dr. A.A. Punya Keerthi (Senior Lecturer of Bio Chemistry, Director General of Health Services and Acting Director General of Health Services Dr. Jayasundar­a Bandara.

“Action is being taken to handover the NFTH to my ministry on August 1 under the Letter of Intent dated July 17 and signed by the three concerned parties -- Health Ministry, SAITM and the Bank of Ceylon,” the minister said in his Cabinet memo.

He said the government had undertaken to release an additional monthly allocation of Rs.200 million as estimated operationa­l cost from August 1 to December 31 this year and allocate an additional Rs.50 million a month to the Health Ministry Medical Supplies Division for the supply of drugs and other logistics for this period.

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