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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA) Mr Anthony Wu, today (October 2) welcomed the Government's proposed lump sum grant of $13 billion for carrying out minor improvement works in public hospitals and clinics in the coming decade.
"Currently under the HA, there are 42 public hospitals, 47 specialist outpatient clinics and 73 general outpatient clinics housed in nearly 300 buildings. As over 56 per cent of the buildings were completed more than 30 years ago and some even over 85 years ago, many require refurbishment and upgrading in electrical and mechanical engineering standards," Mr Wu said.
He added that the accessibility of many hospitals and clinics would also need to be improved for the elderly and persons with disabilities, while alteration and expansion works in wards and clinics would be required to enhance the service capacity to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population.
Mr Wu thanked the Government for agreeing to the new funding model. "While the previous year-by-year funding arrangement accords priority to the most urgently needed projects, the lump sum grant allows the early implementation of more intensive improvement programmes and facilitates effective project planning with a medium-term perspective," he said.
"With the certainty of funding over a reasonably long period, the HA can also plan for multi-stage improvement works involving decanting and renovation in phases," he added.
It is estimated that the lump sum grant of $13 billion, replacing the annual block funding allocation, could support all minor works projects, costing below $75 million each, at various hospitals and clinics over the territory for the next 10 years or so.
"We will ensure the prudent and effective utilisation of the funding to rejuvenate facilities, enhance service capacity, upgrade engineering safety and improve universal accessibility of public hospitals and clinics to meet the challenges of the ever-growing demand and the ageing population," Mr Wu remarked.
Ends/Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:55
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