Chinese Government provides RMB 460 million grant for National Nephrology Hospital Construction Project in Polonnaruwa

Project narrative

On May 25, 2016, the Chinese Government and the Government of Sri Lanka signed an RMB 460 million grant agreement for the National Nephrology Hospital Construction Project. This project is located in President Sirisena's home constituency of Polonnaruwa, which is 230 km (142.92 miles) from Colombo. The purpose of this project is to build a new laboratory and hospital for kidney disease called the National Nephrology Special Hospital. The proposed building will have a 500 bed hospital with 150 dialysis machines, 8 operating theaters, 2 ICUs each with 20 beds, a High Dependency Unit with 20 beds, a fully-fledged laboratory and various other facilities. The 25,517-square-meter hospital will include 200 inpatient beds and 100 hemodialysis beds. There will also be a 200-seat auditorium with a car park which can accommodate 300 vehicles. The project management companies are Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) and Shenyang Engineering Supervision Consulting Co., Ltd., and the contracting company is Huashan International Engineering Company. China Geo-Engineering Corporation (CGEC) is the contractor responsible for project implementation. The bidding for building design plan was completed in December 2016. The design was finalized in 2017. A foundation-laying ceremony was held on December 6, 2017. Construction began on July 21, 2018. The intended completion date of the hospital was July 30, 2020. It was officially completed as of February 2021. The opening ceremony took place on June 11, 2021. Officials in attendance were: Former President Maithripala Sirisena, Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, North Central Province Governor Maheepala Herath, State Ministers Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Channa Jayasumana, Roshan Ranasinghe, Siripala Gamlath, MPs Amarakeerthi Athukorala, Suren Raghavan, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Health Secretary Major General (retired) Dr. Sanjeewa Munasinghe, Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardane, and Chinese Ambassador in Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong among others. As of June 2022, more than 18,000 patients were consulted, more than 3,000 were hospitalized, and more than 20,000 hemodialysis sessions were completed at the National Nephrology hospital.