St. Paul’s Hospital to operate center for recovering elderly Covid patients

St. Paul’s Hospital announced on Sunday that it will operate a respite center for recovering elderly Covid-19 patients with the help of the Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society, the first private hospital to do so.  

The private hospital said that the respite center at Harbour Road Sports Centre, which holds 130 beds, will accommodate patients whose conditions have stabilized after treatment at public hospitals’ accident and emergency departments.

Patients with slight symptoms will be transferred to respite centers in order to relieve pressure on public hospitals which have been operating at full occupancy for weeks. The patients can stay at the centers until they have tested negative for Covid-19, after which they can return to elderly homes. 

The private hospital’s announcement came after Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng said private hospitals should join the fight against the pandemic last Sunday.

The state leader who also leads the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs stressed that healthcare workers should not be preferential when it comes to saving lives, following reports that some Covid patients were turned away by private clinics and hospitals.

In a blog on Sunday, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee urged private hospitals to shoulder the responsibility of fighting the pandemic.

“In this way, the huge pressure on public hospitals is relieved, and public hospitals can better concentrate their resources on dealing with critically ill Covid-19 patients,” she said

Under the Hospital Authority’s Public Private Partnership Programme, St. Paul’s Hospital has provided computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans to close to 5,000 referral patients.

The hospital has also conducted over 250 surgeries, and allocated 20 beds for referral cases.