Government pledges HK$200bn developments for public hospitals
Policy address includes plans for 5000 new beds and 90 new operating theatres
Public hospitals will get an additional 5000 beds and 90 operating theatres in the next 10 years as part of a HK$200 billion bundle of development projects to cope with a rapidly ageing population, said Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
A government source said increased demand can be met by redeveloping or expanding the nine public hospitals, with some construction projects already underway.
“The projection of 5000 beds will increase the current capacity of 27,000 by 18 per cent,” said the source.
“The target is set based on the needs of the population, and all the projects have already been planned by the Hospital Authority to deliver.”
They include the 468-bed Children’s Hospital, a two-phase project in Kai Tak Hospital with a total of 2400 beds, as well as redevelopment projects at Tuen Mun Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital.
An additional 90 operating theatres will be added to the current 230, bringing capacity up by 41 per cent. And sessions of day care clinic will be increased by 2.8 million in ten years, up by 40 per cent.
In order to address the understaffing crisis in public hospitals, the government will also increase the number of medical graduates from 250 before 2014 to 420 this year. In his policy address on Wednesday, the chief executive announced that that number will be further increased by 50 next year.