By Pushpakumara Mallawarachchi and W. Hubert Fernando
The seven-storied building that houses the Negombo District Hospital was in a grave danger of collapsing, an Opposition “fact–finding mission” consisting of UNP Western Provincial Council members had said.
A team of members including Western Provincial Council Opposition Leader Manju Sri Arangala and chief organiser Harshana Rajakaruna had engaged in this trip on Tuesday (14). They had observed how the concrete slabs of the building had been supported due to cracks and water seeping through these cracks.
They had also been told that the Echocardiogram machine which was presently being used on heart patients was now obsolete and that the estimate for repairing this machine was Rs. 1.7millon. They were told that a new version of the machine costs Rs.5.5 million.
 They also witnessed temporary drug stores being maintained inside two wards while arrangements had been made to manage the supply of drugs using two temporary containers by the staff. Many refrigerators in the mortuary were out of order and the dead bodies had to be sent to the Ragama hospital due to the lack of refrigerator space in the hospital morgue.