A 16-storey heart treatment centre with advanced facilities will be built inside the National Hospital of Sri Lanka this year at a cost of Rs. 12 billion, Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa announced on Sunday.
Construction is scheduled to begin this year and is expected to be completed within three years, the minister said. He made the announcement at a ceremony marking Specialist Dr. M.K. Sampath Indika Kumara assuming duties as the new Deputy Director General of the National Hospital.
Bringing the new heart treatment centre to construction and operational stage will be a special responsibility entrusted to the new hospital director, Jayatissa said.
The minister also indicated that discussions had been held on opening a stroke unit at the hospital, with the possibility of establishing such a facility on the premises now under consideration.
Jayatissa said the National Hospital should aim to become Asia’s foremost hospital by further developing its existing facilities, and that a capable leader had now been appointed to drive that goal.
The announcement follows a broader push to upgrade public sector healthcare infrastructure. The Health Ministry this week opened a Rs. 501 million Korea-funded biomedical engineering centre to service equipment across provincial hospitals, while earlier rollouts include a new Rs. 99 million expansion of the Institute of Neurology at the same National Hospital campus and a Rs. 20 billion regional hospital upgrade in Anuradhapura. Construction sector activity was also identified as a key driver behind Sri Lanka’s 5.1 percent Q1 2026 GDP growth reported on Sunday.
No funding source or contractor for the heart centre was disclosed.
