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.
