(COLOMBO) – The largest maternity hospital in South Asia was opened in Karapitiya-Galle in Southern Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
The six-storey hospital built on funds provided from the German Government has 640 beds, six operating theatres, emergency treatment units, intensive care units, laboratories, infant intensive care units, special pediatric units, and state-of-the-art medical facilities.
Additionally it also features a water purification and recycling unit.
The German Government had contributed Euro 25 million (LKR 3570 million) for this project, in addition to providing medical equipment.
Initially, eight hundred perches were allocated for the hospital’s construction, but later, two additional plots of land were acquired, increasing the total area of the hospital to nearly one thousand perches.
Former Chancellor of Germany, Helmut Kohl, made this significant donation towards the construction of a new maternity hospital in Sri Lanka.
This gesture came after he witnessed the devastation caused by the tsunami to the Mahmodara Hospital Galle, the largest maternity hospital in the southern province, during his vacation in December 2004 at a tourist hotel in Talpe, Habaraduwa.
Following the inauguration of the new hospital, plans are underway to relocate the present Mahmodara Maternity Hospital from its current location.
Speaking at the opening of the hospital Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that it was imperative that the education and health sectors are modernized to ensure the country’s future prosperity and development.
