Hong Kong’s health chief demands report after flooding at public hospital causes service suspension
- Three-hour suspension of some services at Tuen Mun Hospital on Saturday due to flooding resulted in longer waiting times, patients being diverted to other sites
- ‘We have to ensure hospitals are safe, not only during rainy and typhoon seasons, but also at other times,’ says health minister Lo Chung-mau
“We are very concerned about the situation, especially when the rainy season is approaching,” Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said on Sunday, a day after Tuen Mun Hospital flooded amid the city’s first amber rainstorm warning of the year.
“We have to ensure hospitals are safe, not only during rainy and typhoon seasons but also at other times. The HA will ensure repair work is done properly, and the [Health Bureau] has asked them to submit a report to ensure services will not be affected.”
Photos from a local media outlet showed cleaners and medical staff mopping the hospital floors while repair workers sealed off areas affected by the flooding, which began at 1pm on Saturday.
A spokesman for the hospital said the flooding had affected the site’s resuscitation room, clinical areas in the accident and emergency unit, as well as partly covering the operation theatre block’s ground floor, affecting accident and emergency services.
Twelve patients who called for ambulance services had to be diverted to Pok Oi Hospital and Tin Shui Wai Hospital for treatment, while anyone who went to Tuen Mun Hospital’s emergency unit by themselves endured longer waiting times.
“The hospital expresses its apologies to patients for the inconvenience caused,” the spokesman said.
