Healthy pay packets take up biggest portion of Hospital Authority's $97b expenditure

Wallis Wang

Staff costs accounted for the highest portion of the Hospital Authority's HK$97.4 billion expenditure last fiscal year, with some senior executives pocketing a whopping HK$300,000 pay rise, according to the latest HA annual report.

The report for 2023-24 released yesterday showed the HA collected HK$98.4 billion in revenue as of March 31 - of which nearly HK$89.2 billion was government subsidy coming from taxpayers.

As it only spent around HK$97.4 billion over the year, the HA managed to achieve a surplus of HK$986 million, as the SAR government is facing a HK$100 billion deficit.

HA chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling said in a review that the government has been supportive of the authority's long-term development by allocating HK$89.2 billion in recurrent subvention in 2023-24.

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the HKSAR government for its sterling support and commitment to public healthcare despite the pressure on public finance," Fan said.

According to the report, the HA spent HK$62.4 billion in staff costs - the highest among all expenses. It spent HK$13 billion on drugs and HK$5 billion on medical supplies and equipment.

The report also listed the remuneration of the five highest-paid executives, with HA chief executive Tony Ko Pat-sing earning more than HK$6.8 million in the year, or over HK$570,000 per month.

Ko enjoyed a HK$312,000 rise in his annual salary compared to the previous year when he earned HK$6.5 million.

Ko was followed by Caritas Medical Centre Hospital chief executive Nelson Wat Ming-sun, who earned HK$5.7 million over the year - HK$318,000 higher than the previous year.

Chief executive of the Hong Kong West Cluster Theresa Li Tak-lai made a HK$245,000 raise, making her the third highest-paid HA executive with an annual salary of HK$5.5 million.

New Territories East Cluster chief executive Chung Kin-lai earned more than HK5.3 million in the fiscal year, while Kowloon East Cluster chief executive Deacons Yeung Tai-kong was paid over HK$5.2 million.

The total salary for the five top executives reached a high of HK$28.8 million - almost 0.05 percent of the total staff cost for over 90,000 full-time HA staffers.

Among the full-time staffers, 7,350 were medical staff, 295 more than the previous year, according to the report. The HA also had 28,865 nursing staff and 9,497 allied health staffers.

Ko said in the report that the HA had reached out to various places around the world to recruit medical students to increase the manpower supply.

"The number of non-locally trained doctors coming to Hong Kong for work or exchange has more than doubled to nearly 140 in 2023-24," he said.

The HA also recruited over 660 doctors, 2,530 nurses and 920 allied health professionals locally, he added.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com