HONG KONG: Kai Tak Hospital, Hong Kong's largest public hospital both in terms of bed capacity and total floor area, is scheduled to commence services in October, according to the Hospital Authority (HA).
Situated in the Kai Tak Development Area, the hospital will begin operations in two phases, gradually absorbing clinical services from Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
While the specialist outpatient clinic block and the oncology block will open in October, the in-patient, surgical and accident and emergency services will be up and running in 2028.
With a total gross floor area of 500,000 square meters, the new hospital will have 2,400 beds and various specialist centers.
As a designated trauma center under the HA, it will provide Accident and Emergency services round the clock for all types of emergencies, urgent situations and major incidents.
The hospital will serve Yau Tsim Mong, Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong districts, covering a population of more than 1.8 million. It will also provide clinical support to the adjacent Hong Kong Children's Hospital.
While announcing the plan on Friday, Dr Eric Cheung, chief executive of Hospital Authority Kowloon Central Cluster, said KTH would help deliver better services to the general population of Kowloon.
“The Kai Tak Hospital itself is situated in quite a prime site in Kowloon district. Being a standalone development instead of an on-site co-development with an existing hospital, it allows us to better develop the infrastructure and equipment in the hospital itself,” he said.
Speaking about new distinct features of the hospital, he mentioned the cyclotron, which will enable in-house production of radioactive tracers for diagnostic examinations and oncology, new scanners, and a hyperbaric oxygen chamber in the building.
“In addition, many new services will be started after we move there. For example, we are going to develop the chest pain center, the stroke center, we have a neuroscience center, and we are also a designated trauma center, which is equipped also with a helipad on the hospital premises.”
In the first phase, clinical services at the Family Medicine Integrated Centre, and specialist outpatient services of the Departments of Medicine, Surgery, Neurosurgery, Family Medicine, and Oncology will be launched, according to the HA. Allied health services, the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, and a range of supporting clinical services will also begin in October simultaneously.
“There will still be a sizeable proportion of outpatients in the new premises in the first phase. Because this phase does not involve the transition of people who are relatively sick, we do not expect a lot of problems in this process,” said Cheung.
“As for the second transition, that is going to happen in 2028. That time is dependent on the completion of the buildings. By that time, we would have already laid down a detailed plan as to how to transition that. Probably, we will leave the details to a later time,” he added.
The hospital comprises five towers, equipped with 37 operating theatres and advanced clinical facilities. Specialist centers include the Oncology Centre and Neuroscience Centre to support complex referrals.
The HA said it has set up a dedicated team to follow up on the relocation of services to KTH. Staff will personally call patients to inform them of their new appointment details, and notifications will also be sent via text message, post and the HA mobile application "HA Go".
In addition, the KTH Hotline at 3506 5188 is also operational to answer patient enquiries. - China Daily/ANN
