General Hospital Colombo
| National Hospital of Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka | |
University of Colombo Faculty of Medicine on Kynsey Road
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| Geography | |
| Location | E. W. Perera Mawatha, Colombo, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka |
| Coordinates | 6°55′07.40″N 79°52′07.40″E / 6.9187222°N 79.8687222°ECoordinates: 6°55′07.40″N 79°52′07.40″E / 6.9187222°N 79.8687222°E |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public |
| Funding | Government hospital |
| Hospital type | Teaching |
| Affiliated university | University of Colombo |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes |
| Beds | 3,246 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1864 |
| Links | |
| Website | nhsl.health.gov.lk |
| Lists | Hospitals in Sri Lanka |
The National Hospital of Sri Lanka is a government hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1864 as the General Hospital, it is the leading hospital in Sri Lanka and is controlled by the central government. As of 2010 it had 3,246 beds. The hospital has 18 intensive care units and 21 operating theaters. It employs 7,500 staff of which 1,500 are doctors. The hospital carries out 5,000 major and minor surgeries each month and treats over two million out patients a year. Situated on a 36-acre site, it includes the Dental Institute, Maligawatte Kidney Hospital, Nurse's Training School, Post Basic Nurse's Training School, School of Eco Cardiograph, School of Physiotherapy, School of Radiography and the University of Colombo's Faculty of Medicine.
In 1817 Deputy Inspector General of Hospitals Charles Farell recommended to the British Governor Robert Brownrigg that a hospital for the poor be established. Thus Colombo's first modern hospital was established in 1819 at Prince Street in Pettah. The hospital had 100 beds but demand was so high the hospital became overcrowded and a decision was taken to build a news hospital at a 32-acre cinnamon land in Longden Place. Governor Henry George Ward's administration set aside ₤3,000 to establish the hospital. The new 200 bed General Hospital opened in 1864.
The hospital had 21 wards in 1864. When the Colombo Medical School was established in 1870 it was based at the hospital's female surgical ward. In 1875 Mudaliyar Samson Rajapakse gifted three and a half acres of land on which Colombo Medical School's successor, the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, stands today. The hospital became the first in the country to employ female nurses with the arrival of an English nurse in 1878. The hospital found it difficult to recruit nurses locally so the hospital authorities requested the help of Catholic nuns who served in the hospital from 1886 to 1964.
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