Engineers at the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT) have restored medical and technical equipment worth around Rs. 3 million that the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital in Ragama had written off, completing the work for about Rs. 5,000.
Science and Technology Minister Chrishantha Abeysena presided over the handover of the first batch on Thursday, the Ministry of Science and Technology said. Abeysena, who also chairs the Gampaha District Health Committee, set the programme in motion after an inspection tour of the hospital revealed assets that had been decommissioned because external repair estimates were prohibitive, the original manufacturers had dissolved, or no local technical capability existed.
The restored inventory includes IR timers with power supplies, industrial ovens, patient standing-aid units, multi-monitors, grinder machine control panels, power units and controllers for tilting beds, heat guns and rotary tools. A second batch is now undergoing modernisation by the ACCIMT team, which has also agreed to redesign specialised assistive-care equipment for physically disabled patients at the hospital’s request.
To formalise the arrangement, the Ministry of Health and Mass Media and the Ministry of Science and Technology will sign a memorandum of understanding to streamline future technical support, the ministry said. The ACCIMT operates under the Science and Technology Ministry and houses Sri Lanka’s national astronomical observatory alongside its applied-research and microelectronics divisions.
