Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Monday, Dec 09, 2024

Kwong Wah Hospital in Hong Kong to open new 17-storey complex at end of month

Kwong Wah Hospital in Hong Kong to open new 17-storey complex at end of month

Complex features an emergency unit 2.6 times bigger than old one and offers 40 ward beds.

A new complex at Hong Kong’s century-old Kwong Wah Hospital will begin offering service at the end of the month, with new ambulatory and emergency facilities that authorities hope will shorten the waiting time for patients seeking urgent care.

The two-phase project at the hospital in Yau Ma Tei is part of a wider 10-year effort to increase the capacity of the public healthcare system through redeveloping and expanding existing healthcare facilities, among other changes. The overhaul was announced in the chief executive’s 2016 policy address.

The exterior of the new complex in Yau Ma Tei.


One of the highlights of the new 17-storey complex, with a combined floor area of 145,000 square metres (1.56 million sq feet), is an accident and emergency unit 2.6 times bigger than the old one and offering 40 ward beds.

“In the past, patients who registered always had to wait due to insufficient space for a doctor’s consultation, especially for non-emergency cases, but with more space and smoother procedures, the situation will improve a lot,” said Dr Tang Kam-shing, chief executive of the hospital.

“With an emergency ward, those who need quick and urgent treatment could be treated there and be discharged quickly, instead of going through the hospital admission procedure.”

Kwong Wah Hospital is the only public medical institution where the accident and emergency department was not designed with a dedicated ward, according to Tang.

The A&E department will open at the complex on May 31, with no interrupting of service expected.

Tang also vowed the hospital would maintain close contact with the Fire Services Department, taxi dispatches and the public to prevent confusion.

Non-emergency outpatient services, among others, will be gradually relocated to the new complex from late April. Patients will be moved from the middle of the following month and all of the previous wards will be vacated within three to four weeks.

The new complex, which took six years to complete, also features more than 60 isolation beds.


Another key focus of the 10-year redevelopment project is the expansion of one-stop ambulatory care service centres to reduce hospitalisations.

Tang said some patients, especially those with chronic illnesses, could follow up at the centres, instead of queueing at the A&E department.

For example, patients who need orthopaedic surgery could have pre- and post- operative consultations at the centre, which measures 700 square metres in total.

“The old centre was only 200 square metres and patients have to do pre-op assessment, wound cleaning and ultrasound tests on the same bed,” said Dr Wong Kam-kwong, service chief of the hospital’s department of orthopaedics and traumatology.

“Now those procedures can be handled in separate zones, and we have 10 day care beds for patients to rest after surgery.”

The new complex, which took six years to complete, also features more than 60 isolation beds, and an extra 90 regular beds which can be converted for isolation if needed.

The number of operating theatres will grow from 10 to 20, with four located at the new complex and six others to be built in the second phase of the redevelopment.

A new oncology department should allow the hospital to treat more cancer patients, Tang said.

The hospital’s ambulatory orthopaedic service centre.


Kwong Wah Hospital will also be the first public healthcare facility fully covered by the 5G network, which is deemed essential to the development of telemedicine service.

The hospital is now seeking funding from the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee for the second phase of the redevelopment, which centres on another new complex slated to be finished by 2027.

Demolition of the block that houses the current A&E department is expected to start in the second half of the year.

The main construction work for the first phase was projected to cost more than HK$10 billion (US$1.27 billion), while the second phase is expected to cost HK$9.8 billion.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×