Chinese med hospital to be built

June 28, 2021

Chinese Medicine Hospital Project Office Project Director Dr Cheung Wai-lun:
What kind of patients could be treated in the Chinese Medicine Hospital using the integrated Western and Chinese approach? Actually there are a lot, there are a lot. At least, I will say for example, just for example, chronic pain can be a high demand disease category. 

No matter (whether it) is acute pain due to injury or musculoskeletal problems, or whether it is chronic pain due to many, many other reasons, even at this moment, a lot of patients seeking medical care are not able to completely relieve their symptoms. Because (for) all this pain, the origin first may not be identified even through the Western medicine technique. The second (reason) is that there is multifactorial situation affecting the pain, even psychological. 

I believe that Chinese medicine practitioners, experts, they will formulate a very good protocol and also use combinations of interventions, for example, using Chinese medicine (ie drugs), acupuncture and also maybe other methodologies that will cater (to) the individual situation of individual patients. That is one area that I may explain to you that the use of Chinese medicine diagnosis and interventions has been proven very effective in managing multifactorial chronic pain.

(To watch the full commissioning launch ceremony and press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Food & Health Bureau and Baptist University today started the preparation work for commissioning the Chinese Medicine Hospital (CMH), aiming to commence service in phases from the second quarter of 2025.

Situated at Pak Shing Kok, Tseung Kwan O, the hospital will offer 400 beds with both inpatient and outpatient services. It will also diagnose and treat specific diseases through the collaboration of Chinese and Western medicine practitioners with the former playing a predominant role. When fully commissioned, the outpatient clinics will be able to serve some 310,000 patients each year.

Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan has high hopes and confidence in Baptist University’s participation in the project, noting the hospital’s establishment is an important milestone in Chinese medicine development.

“The CMH will provide not only quality medical services, but also a collaboration network with Chinese medicine clinics and educational and research centres, universities and the Chinese medicine industry.”

Baptist University, which has extensive Chinese medicine experience, shares the same mission with the Government in developing the hospital into a flagship Chinese medicine institution and a change driver that propels the development of Chinese medicine service, education and training, innovation and research in Hong Kong, she added.

CMH Project Office Project Director Dr Cheung Wai-lun said patients would be treated in the CMH using an integrated approach.

With chronic pain as an example, he said: “The origin first may not be identified even through the Western medicine technique.”

“I believe that Chinese medicine practitioners, experts, they will formulate a very good protocol and also use combinations of interventions, for example, using Chinese medicine (ie drugs), acupuncture and also maybe other methodologies that will cater (to) the individual situation of individual patients,” he explained.

In addition, the CMH will be a base for teaching and clinical practicum for the schools of Chinese medicine of three local universities and a clinical training platform for Chinese medicine practitioners. A Clinical Trial & Research Centre will also be set up in the CMH to facilitate the development of new proprietary Chinese medicines as well as widening the existing medicines’ clinical applications.

The CMH’s design principle and construction works are co-ordinated by the Architectural Services Department. Covering 4.29 hectares of land and next to the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute, the hospital’s layout and architectural design highlight the co-existence of modern Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese culture.

The construction works of the CMH and the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute will commence at the end of this month, the Government added.