A modernised Accident and Emergency Care Unit and a new Main Medical Laboratory at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital will be vested in the public on Sunday, June 14, under the patronage of Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa following a Rs. 92 million upgrade, Newswire reported.
The Accident and Emergency Care Unit had previously operated as a Primary Care Unit with limited capacity and has been redeveloped into a Level II A&E facility, integrating the existing building with newly constructed space to create a larger treatment area. The Ministry of Health allocated Rs. 37 million for the modernisation, with bed capacity rising from 18 to 47, Wall Oxygen points expanding from five to 15, and staff strength growing from 69 to 144. In 2025 alone the unit treated 31,981 patients, the Ministry said, underscoring the demand pressures that drove the rebuild.
The Main Medical Laboratory has been relocated to a fully renovated building — formerly the Laboratory Technicians’ quarters — and equipped with advanced facilities at a cost of Rs. 55 million. It now offers testing in Biochemistry, Haematology, Microbiology and Histopathology, alongside blood-bank services for inpatients, outpatients and nearby primary hospitals, supporting both emergency and routine diagnostics.
Established in 1980 with assistance from the Government of Japan, the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital is the leading tertiary care facility in the Central Province and the main clinical training centre for the University of Peradeniya’s faculties of medicine, dentistry and allied health. With a bed capacity of 1,008, the hospital treats more than 80,000 inpatients, 250,000 outpatients and 300,000 clinic patients a year and serves roughly 2.4 million people in the surrounding region as well as referred cases from other provinces.
Sunday’s opening adds to the Rs. 31 billion programme to upgrade base hospitals that the Health Minister set out earlier this month, which prioritises emergency-care capacity at provincial referral sites.
