Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau said the Government is developing the criteria for approving the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme’s additional participating hospitals on the Mainland and will soon be accepting applications.

Prof Lo made the statement after attending the Ante Chamber exchange session at the Legislative Council this morning.

He pointed out that he had a very good discussion with lawmakers regarding collaboration with the Mainland in the development of healthcare services across the boundary.

“For the Elderly Health Care Voucher, we heard a lot of good suggestions from our legislators regarding the extension of its use in more hospitals on the Mainland, particularly those managed by institutions with experience in the healthcare service and the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme in Hong Kong.”

The Government is developing the criteria for approving additional participating hospitals.

Prof Lo said: “The intention is to especially make sure that these spots for the use of elderly healthcare vouchers can be linked with our future spots for elderly healthcare homes in order to facilitate the healthcare services for these elderly people across the boundary.

“So there is a lot of discussion, especially when considering whether we can extend the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme to Fujian. Fujian is a province with quite a number of elderly (people) retiring in the province.”