The Ministry of Health will take over the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital in Malabe today, the Government Information Department said.

 A special ceremony to mark the state acquisition of the hospital is currently underway, under the auspices of President Maithripala Sirisena.

 An agreement is to be signed between the government and its current management with regard to the take over and the future functions of the hospital.

 The acquisition of the hospital is part of the government’s solution to the current crisis surrounding the private medical education in Sri Lanka.

 The Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital is attached to the controversial South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) – the Sri Lankan private medical school which is now at the centre of a major controversy.