Kwong Wah goes 5G for new hospital

Christine Tang

Kwong Wah in Yau Ma Tei will become the first public hospital to have full 5G internet coverage, as the HK$10 billion first phase of its reconstruction was completed yesterday.

Speaking in an opening ceremony, Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling said Kwong Wah will also be the first public hospital to have the first 5G surgery room that allows medical teams elsewhere to provide opinions based on real-time video feeds.

The 145,000-square-meter new building will have more than 1,200 beds and 14 surgery rooms.

Fan said the area of the emergency room is 2.6 times larger than before and emergency wards were added.

Deputy chief secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said the second phase has already commenced, and once completed in 2029, will provide 500 more beds, 10 surgery rooms and a new specialized outpatient center.

The second phase will include demolition of the main, north wing and east wing buildings, while carrying out renovation work at Tsui Tsin Tong Out-patient Building.

Cheuk said he was happy to be able to witness such a large-scale project going on since 1960s. He thanked medical staff for continuing to provide good and professional services to patients while the reconstruction was in progress in such a densely populated area.

It is understood that the Legislative Council has allocated HK$8.9 billion for the second phase this year.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu congratulated the hospital on its first-phase completion in a video address.

"Kwong Wah Hospital provides both Chinese and Western medical services and is one of the important emergency hospitals in Kowloon. Its service has been widely recognized by society," Lee said.

"Hong Kong is one of the cities with the longest lifespan in the world. In the face of an increasingly aging population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, the government has been investing a lot of resources in medical services, including promoting the sustainable development of the public medical system" Lee added.

He thanked the authority for its active cooperation with the government. The government hopes to continue to work together with the authority, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, people in the medical field, and various community organizations in the future to build a healthy Hong Kong.