The Ministry of Health and Mass Media has appointed nine new Deputy Directors General, including the heads of the National Hospitals in Colombo, Kandy and Galle, ending vacancies that had remained open for as long as seven to eight years at some posts.

Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa handed appointment letters to the new DDGs at a ministry event on Thursday. Recruitment followed interviews held in May.

Jayatissa described the appointments as a major milestone for the ministry and said they were an important step toward strengthening healthcare administration. He told the ministry it had spent much of the past 18 months addressing long-standing administrative shortcomings and had now laid a stronger foundation for future reforms. He assured the newly appointed officials they would be free to perform their duties independently, without political interference.

Health Ministry Secretary Anil Jasinghe said Deputy Directors General were “the backbone of the ministry” and called on the new appointees to use their experience to serve the public effectively.

The nine appointments are: Dr. M.S.S. Indika Kumara as DDG of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, Dr. P.S. Kiriwandeniya as DDG (Medical Services) I, Dr. Chandana Gajanayake as DDG (Dental Services), Dr. K.D.P. Weerasinghe as DDG (Education, Training and Research), Dr. K.T.C.L. Kumarapeli as DDG (Mental Health) II, Dr. Priyantha Athapaththu as DDG of the National Hospital Galle, Dr. S.P.L. Ranaweera as DDG (Medical Supplies), Dr. M.N. Weerasuriya as DDG of the National Hospital Kandy, and Dr. H.M. Thilakarathna as DDG (Laboratory Services).

The reshuffle slots in alongside Jayatissa’s parallel effort to clear the 2,000-doctor internship backlog by August, the planned June 30 medicine price revision, and the rollout of 16 new catheterisation laboratories earlier this year — together forming the most active phase of administrative reform inside the ministry since the NPP took office.

Source: Nine deputy director general vacancies filled at Health Ministry — Newswire, June 11