At least half of services at Hong Kong’s first Chinese medicine hospital will be subsidised by government, health bureau says
- Government invites applications from prospective operators of Tseung Kwan O hospital, which should start operating by 2024
- Hospital of 400 beds is expected to have outpatient attendance of about 310,000 per annum
At least half of the services provided by Hong Kong’s first Chinese medicine hospital will be subsidised by the government, according to details released on Friday by the Food and Health Bureau, as it began inviting interested operators to submit applications.
The Tseung Kwan O facility, which is expected to start operating in phases by the end of 2024, is part of the government’s promise to incorporate Chinese medicine into the city’s health care system, announced in the 2018 policy address.
Dr Cheung Wai-lun, project director of the Chinese Medicine Hospital Project Office of the Food and Health Bureau, said the hospital would adopt a public-private partnership model, with the government providing the capital investment for construction of the hospital and recurrent funding for delivery of subsidised services, training and research.
The facility will also be a teaching hospital for all three Chinese medicine schools in Hong Kong with students able to do internships there.
“If we want to enhance the Chinese medicine sector, we need to interact with the private market,” Cheung said, adding most of the sector was currently in the private market.
At the moment, local universities must send their students to Chinese medicine hospitals in mainland China for clinical training.
The government is the owner of the hospital site and would subsidise 50 to 65 per cent of inpatient and outpatient services.
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Cheung said the hospital could provide add-on market-oriented services, other training and research programmes and hospital services-related businesses and would be able to accept donations.
He said surpluses would not be distributed to the contractor but used only for the hospital’s development.
The contractor also has to provide a capped financial commitment to the hospital in case the institution has a financial deficit, with the amount proposed by the applicants at the tender stage.
Cheung said early estimates showed that about 200 nurses, 100 Chinese medicine practitioners and 20 to 30 western medicine doctors would be needed to run the hospital.
The hospital will consist of 400 beds, including 250 inpatient beds, 90 beds for day service, 40 for paediatrics for both inpatient and day services and 20 in the clinical trial and research centre. The estimated outpatient attendance is 310,000 per annum.
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However, it will not provide accident and emergency services, general anaesthetic surgical services, intensive care or child delivery.
Currently, there are 18 Chinese medicine centres offering government-subsidised outpatient services while several public hospitals provide Chinese medicine treatment for their inpatient services that is subsidised by the government.
From now until December 13, companies limited by guarantee under the laws of Hong Kong or a statutory body corporate established under an Ordinance of the Laws of Hong Kong meeting certain criteria can apply for a prequalification exercise.
These criteria include being a single entity, meaning not a partnership or joint venture.
“This is because we want to ensure the accountability of the applicant,” he explained.
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Applicants must also have at least 10 years of total experience within the 20 years immediately prior to the original application closing date of providing Chinese medicine services in Hong Kong. Five years of those must have been obtained immediately before the original application closing date.
Furthermore, the applicants must also have at least 10 years of total experience within the 20 years immediately prior to the original application closing date in managing any health care organisation consisting of more than one health care unit or hospital.
The selected operator will get a contract for 10 years of hospital services, which is extendable by five years at most.
Regarding the number of interested applicants, Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee noted that about 10 non-government organisations had attended a related briefing in June.
Chinese University’s school of Chinese medicine said it would not submit an application, while Baptist University, which also has a Chinese medicine school, said it would study the related material.
Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan was disappointed that only 50 to 65 per cent of the services were subsidised.
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“This might result in Chinese medicine services provided by the government not meeting the needs of the general public,” she said.
Health services sector lawmaker Joseph Lee Kok-long questioned if the government had a long-term commitment to developing the Chinese medicine sector, given the model could end up with different operators running the hospital over a number of years rather than the government operating the hospital itself.
He said such a model of running a hospital was not common practice in Hong Kong, but added the possibility of a five-year extension was a move in the right direction.
