Hospital Authority establishes Hong Kong Island Cluster and appoints Cluster Chief Executive (with photo)
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The Hospital Authority (HA) announced today (March 26) that the Hong Kong East Cluster (HKEC) and the Hong Kong West Cluster (HKWC) will officially be integrated to establish the Hong Kong Island Cluster (HKIC) from April 1. Dr Theresa Li will be appointed as the Cluster Chief Executive (CCE) of the HKIC, and the Hospital Chief Executive (HCE) of Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) and Tsan Yuk Hospital (TYH), effective April 1.
The HA spokesperson said, "The HA integrates the HKEC and the HKWC to establish the HKIC in order to rationalise administration and management, streamline administrative procedures, share resources for better cost-effectiveness, and enhance operational and management efficiency."
The HKIC will gradually integrate services currently provided by the HKEC and the HKWC. The spokesperson emphasised that during the integration, the majority of the existing patients will be able to continue receiving services in hospitals in the vicinity, including those using accident and emergency services, family medicine out-patient services and general specialty services with high volume and relatively lower complexity. The HA has long followed the principle of "localising where possible, centralising where necessary" to integrate medical services on Hong Kong Island. Each hospital in the cluster will continue to perform their current key functions and uphold their expertise while complementing the strengths of other hospitals within the cluster, thereby providing comprehensive healthcare services more effectively.
For some specialty services with a relatively lower demand, with operations involving personnel with specialised clinical techniques and qualifications, or require sophisticated equipment and advanced technology such as the organ transplant services at QMH and the hyperbaric oxygen treatment at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH), centralisation of specialists, specialised equipment and complicated cases for handling at designated hospitals will be arranged. The professional medical teams will be able to further focus on developing the strengths of their respective specialty services. In addition, by collaborating with various service provision points of the relevant specialty services within the cluster, healthcare services with even better quality will be provided for those complex medical cases which constitute only a small number of patients.
Moving forward, the HKIC will manage 14 hospitals. This includes four acute hospitals - QMH, PYNEH, Ruttonjee Hospital, and St John Hospital - along with 10 rehabilitation, convalescent and extended care hospitals and 18 Family Medicine Clinics, primarily serving around 1.2 million residents on Hong Kong Island.
Dr Li, appointed as the CCE of the HKIC and the HCE of QMH and TYH, is an anaesthesiologist by background, with ample executive experience in cluster and corporate management. Dr Li is currently the CCE of HKWC and the HCE of QMH and TYH. Prior to her current position, she served as the Head of Human Resources of the HA, the HCE of Shatin Hospital and Bradbury Hospice, and the Cluster Manager (Strategy, Planning and Service Transformation) of the Kowloon Central Cluster.
The HA Chairman, Mr Henry Fan, and the HA Chief Executive, Dr Libby Lee, congratulated Dr Li on her new appointment and wish her every success in taking up the new post.
Ends/Thursday, March 26, 2026
Issued at HKT 17:44
Issued at HKT 17:44
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