New Mirigama treatment centre opens to clear massive kidney stone surgery backlog

A new specialised medical facility opened in Mirigama today to tackle Sri Lanka's massive backlog of over 5,000 patients waiting for kidney stone surgeries.

Minister of Health and Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa officially commissioned the Mirigama Kidney Stone Removal Treatment Centre, which will provide island-wide services to drastically reduce waiting times.

Demand for urological treatment remains incredibly high across the country due to severe infrastructure limits, a shortage of operating theatres, and restricted access to modern endourological technology, despite the existence of over thirty specialist urology units.

The Ministry of Health revealed that this project, which languished uncompleted for 20 years, reached completion in just three months under the minister’s directives, following a proposal to the Non-Communicable Diseases Task Force and with support from the Sri Lanka Association of Urological Surgeons.

Buildings, equipment, and human resources within the national healthcare system require proper management to ensure they operate at maximum capacity.

Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa told the gathering that poor planning left the country with numerous underutilised health service structures.

He added that hiding behind rigid regulations yields zero public benefit, stressing the urgent need for a streamlined system that eliminates waiting lists and grants healthcare access to the entire population.

All government specialist urological surgeons across the island can now bring their patients to this facility to perform surgeries using advanced technical equipment.