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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Leung Ka-lau and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):
Question:
The Chief Executive stated in his 2008-2009 Policy Address that "the Government is identifying suitable sites initially including the Wong Chuk Hang, Tseung Kwan O, Tai Po and North Lantau areas" for the development of private hospitals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the exact lot numbers and areas of such sites, as well as other specific criteria for selecting them;
(b) whether it knows the current site area and gross floor area of each private hospital, as well as the numbers of beds therein; and
(c) as there are at present quite a number of schools or other types of buildings in the urban areas which are vacant, whether it has studied the feasibility of converting such buildings for private healthcare purposes, which districts are relatively suitable, and of the mechanism and criteria for approving the change of their use?
Reply:
President,
Our healthcare system is overly reliant on public services and there exists significant imbalance between the public and private healthcare sector. One of our healthcare reform initiatives is to promote and facilitate the development of private healthcare service, with a view to increasing the overall capacity of the healthcare system in Hong Kong and addressing the imbalance between the public and private sector. At the same time, we will encourage more public-private-partnership and facilitate the creation of more market capacity for the private sector. To this end, the Government has identified four sites at Wong Chuk Hang, Tseung Kwan O, Tai Po and Tung Chung for the development of private hospitals. We will launch an Expression of Interest exercise by the end of 2009 to solicit market interest in developing private hospitals in the four identified sites. The Food and Health Bureau will at the same time embark on the relevant planning process of the individual site for the proposed land use (including the change of land zoning), conduct district consultation and handle the interfacing issues with other infrastructure works. Replies to various parts of the question are provided as follows.
(a) Details of the four sites are at Annex A. When determining if a piece of land is suitable for hospital development, the major considerations include the planned use, size and geographical location of the site, the environment and facilities in the vicinity, the accessibility of the site as well as the cost-effectiveness of the development. In terms of site selection, hospitals should preferably be located in elevated positions with good air quality, so as to allow patients to recover in a comfortable and quiet environment.
(b) At present, there are a total of 13 private hospitals in Hong Kong. Their site area, gross floor area and number of beds are set out at Annex B.
(c) Generally, buildings for hospital use are specially designed in order to provide appropriate facilities, such as hospital wards and operation theatres. In addition, hospitals also have specially-designed ventilation system, and special facilities to handle medical waste and prevent the spread of infectious disease. Therefore buildings originally designed for use as schools or for other purposes may not be suitable for hospital use.
As for the procedures of converting buildings for hospital use, it involves considerations from planning, land and works perspectives.
Firstly, for the conversion of vacant schools or other buildings to hospital use, we must consider if provision of hospital service is a permitted use of the site. Given the various planned use in different sites, some sites could only be used as hospital with approval by the Town Planning Board (TPB). For example, for sites falling within "Commercial" and "Residential" zones on outline zoning plans (OZPs), "Hospital" may be included as a Column 2 use on the Notes of the OZP. A planning application should be submitted to and approved by TPB before development of hospital on these sites. Besides, if the relevant site falls within a zone which does not allow "Hospital" use (such as "Industrial" zone), hospital development could only proceed after a planning application to amend the relevant OZP is made and approved by the TPB. In making a decision on the abovementioned applications, TPB will take into account all relevant planning considerations for land use, including land use compatibility, traffic and environmental impacts. As for sites falling within "Government, Institution or Community" zone on OZPs, hospital use is always permitted. Therefore, vacant schools or other buildings on these sites could be converted to private hospital and no planning application to the TPB is required.
Secondly, if the lease conditions governing the lot on which the vacant school or building stands do not permit hospital use, the lot owner has to apply to the Lands Department for modifying the relevant conditions of the land lease.
Meanwhile, under the Buildings Ordinance, prior approval of plans and consent to the commencement of works shall be obtained from the Building Authority (i.e. the Director of Buildings) for any proposed building works to be carried out in connection with the proposed change in the use of an existing private building as a hospital.
In addition, all private hospitals must apply for registration with the Department of Health (DH) in accordance with the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance before commencement of operation. DH will take into account a number of factors when considering the application for registration, including whether the applicant is suitable for managing the hospital, and if the relevant premise has suitable accommodation and equipment, staffing, facilities and supporting services (such as laboratory and catering service), etc.
As for vacant schools and buildings that are government properties, the Government will first consider them for government use. Vacant government property without government use would normally be put to alternative use (e.g. commercial leasing) on a temporary basis, pending identification of its long-term use. Most of the vacant government properties are only transiently vacant for various reasons, such as the property has been earmarked for sale or development shortly, the property is being allocated for government use, or the property is undergoing/under planning for refurbishment/renovation, etc. According to the information provided by the Government Property Agency (GPA), there is at present no vacant property under GPA's purview that is considered suitable for hospital use, due to the planned uses and various constraints (e.g. conditions of land lease, deed of mutual covenant and site location) of the property.
Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:31
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