Close on the heels of the Health Ministry successfully tackling a trade union dispute triggered by the non-appointment of a permanent Director to the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital, a fresh crisis has erupted, at the premier health institute in the NCP, with a private contractor terminating food supplies due to non-payment of his dues.

The in-patients, numbering over 1,700 and the junior staff of the hospital had been badly hit as food supplies were stopped Saturday evening, GMOA sources said. The food supplier said that he would resume supplies once the hospital paid his dues amounting to Rs.8 million.