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The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, visited Wan Chai District this afternoon (October 2) to learn more about the elderly health-care services and other health-care facilities in the district, and to exchange views with District Councillors on health as well as food and environmental hygiene issues.
Accompanied by the District Officer (Wan Chai), Miss Angela Luk, Dr Ko first visited the Jean Wei Centre of the Hong Kong Alzheimer's Disease Association at Tang Shiu Kin Hospital, where he met and chatted with elderly visitors and staff to understand more about the services provided by the centre.
He learnt that the centre provides day care services, training on daily living skills and exercise for elderly persons with dementia, helping them to minimise the effects of the illness and relieving the burden on their carers.
Dr Ko then, accompanied by the Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA), Mr Anthony Wu, proceeded to Ruttonjee Hospital. He was briefed on the hospital's plan to construct an escalator and a lift for patients to access the hospital from Wan Chai Road, and inspected the proposed construction site.
"Health-care facilities in the district, including Ruttonjee Hospital, have room for improvement in respect of both service provision and supporting facilities. For example, Ruttonjee Hospital plans to build a new passenger lift and an escalator so that patients will no longer have to take the stairs to access the hospital for seeking medical treatment.
"In the summer, I visited a number of hospitals and talked to many of the HA's front-line staff. I learnt that since many hospitals were built years ago, there are limitations in their facilities and supporting services. Moreover, with the expected continuing growth of demand for medical services, the HA must speed up its facilities improvement plans so as to enhance the quality of medical services.
"As such, we will seek the Legislative Council's approval to allocate $13 billion to the HA for minor works projects to renovate its hospitals and clinics and improve facilities therein in the next 10 years or so, such as the construction of a new passenger escalator and a lift at Ruttonjee Hospital. Through these works, the hospitals and clinics will be able to better cope with the increasing service demand by meeting the standard of a modern community hospital and enhancing the volume of service provision," Dr Ko said.
Ends/Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:01
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