A notification to announce the bringing of the Dr. Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) under government control will be issued today, Higher Education and Highways Lakshman Kiriella said yesterday.
Kiriella said that he and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne had yesterday signed the relevant document to bring the private hospital in Malabe under government control.
He said that the owner of the hospital Dr. Neville Fernando had agreed to vest the ownership of the hospital with the government without any reimbursement.
The Minister said that the SAITM institution will continue to functuion as a private medical college under the full supervision of the government.
He also said that ths SAITM student have agreed to sit an examination conducted by the Sri Lanka Medical Council.
Kiriella also said that new regulations and criteria will come into effect when recruiting students into the private medical college.
The Minister said that the government has informed SAITM not to recruit new students until the medical college issue is solved.
Kiriella went on to say that he believed the SAITM issue which has created much debate will come to an end when the new measures come into effect.