Thirteen private hospitals to reserve 1,000 beds for referrals from Hospital Authority

Thirteen private hospitals agreed on Tuesday to reserve 1,000 beds and the required manpower to help the Hospital Authority in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Hong Kong Private Hospitals Association said this amounts to some 20 percent of the total bed capacity of private hospitals and requires more than 30 percent of their available manpower if fully utilized.

These 1,000 beds will be accepting mainly non-Covid patients. They also included beds for the transfer of Covid patients to hospitals with appropriate facilities. 

"Ever since the outbreak of the Covid-19 in Hong Kong, all 13 private hospitals have served more than 10,000 public hospital patients under the HA’s Public Private Partnership programs, and taken in non-Covid patients to alleviate the burden of HA hospitals," the association said. 

Private hospitals have also treated more than 5,000 Covid-19 positive outpatients so far, and utilized negative pressure isolation rooms to treat the occasional Covid positive inpatients who could not be transferred out to HA.

CUHK Medical Centre has launched a designated isolation ward to admit Covid-19 patients referred from public hospitals, providing 24 beds. 

"All 13 private hospitals are suffering from manpower loss to the tune of 30-40 percent, as many colleagues are being isolated or quarantined for contracting the disease or as close contacts, the association added. "Only around 60 percent of beds can be put in operation for the time being."

On the other hand, Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong announced on Tuesday it will allocate 150 beds - half of its available beds - to receive non-Covid patients referred from public hospitals.

The hospital said it is recruiting additional medical staffers via different channels, including calling upon retired staffers to rejoin.

According to the hospital, over 100 non-Covid patients referred by public hospitals have been arranged to receive inpatient and day respite services. As the 150 beds gradually become available, it will be able to handle more referrals. 

At the same time, it will also send staffers to support the day respite center at Tsing Yi Southwest Sports Centre, which is expected to provide 160 beds for elderly Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms or those who are recovering.

The private hospital will continue to discuss the opening date of the center with the government. 

Gleneagles has been providing outpatient services for Covid patients and has launched a free video medical consultation service earlier this month.

As for Baptist Hospital, it announced on Tuesday to launch a Covid clinic to provide treatment and medical consultation for patients with mild Covid symptoms.

Consultation fee plus 7-day medication chared HK$700, patients have to make an appointment online before visiting.

Online appointment can be made at : https://covid-19.hkbh.org.hk/opd/reserve/

The hospital will increase the number of beds for patients referred by the HA to 150 within this week. It is also using isolation wards to treat inpatients confirmed with Covid-19, and has already used more than 90 percent of beds at its isolation wards.