Mental health in Hong Kong: why opening of Castle Peak psychiatric hospital was seen as big step
- The 1,000-bed mental health facility was inaugurated in 1961 by governor Sir Robert Black
- In a speech, he said that a growing understanding of the mind ‘has blown away much of the mist enveloping this illness’
“New mental hospital to be built at Castle Peak,” ran a headline in the South China Morning Post on September 3, 1955.
“A new government hospital, to replace the existing Mental Hospital, is to be built at Castle Peak, in the New Territories,” the story continued, documenting the construction that would stretch over 12 hectares of private land.
Site preparation began with the levelling of a hillside and the building of access roads. The first stage of construction included a ward for 120 chronic patients and a block of staff quarters. Plans revealed the use of a cheery colour scheme and two recreational areas raised 12 feet above ground to give an uninterrupted view of the countryside.
“Every effort is being made to provide patients with the best possible atmosphere as far away as possible from that normal experience in hospitals of this nature,” the Post reported.
On February 24, 1957, with two wards having been completed, 120 patients from the Victoria Mental Hospital, High Street, Sai Ying Pun, were transferred in a six-vehicle convoy to the new facility. A second group of patients was moved in 1960.