LCQ13: Operation and services of Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong
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Question:
The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (CMHHK) is a flagship project for the development of Chinese medicine (CM) in Hong Kong, commencing phased operations and service provision at the end of last year. CMHHK adopts a public-private partnership model with its construction fully funded by the Government. The Administration has pointed out that the public-private partnership model enables the provision of market-oriented CM services, which can both attract alternative sources of revenue and foster positive interaction between CMHHK and the market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of attendances at CMHHK since its commissioning, including the number of attendances under subsidised outpatient services, market-oriented outpatient services and day inpatient services, and the respective proportions of such attendances;
(2) whether it knows the proportion of attendances at CMHHK since its commissioning that were referred from external sources, and, of these, the respective numbers referred by the 18 Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres across Hong Kong, and by private CM practitioners, Western medicine practitioners or other healthcare professionals;
(3) whether the Government will expedite the development of CMHHK's outreach services, including allowing it to conduct promotional activities at off-site locations, collaborate with local healthcare service providers, enterprises and community organisations to deliver market-oriented services, and strengthen collaboration with other strategic partners in the sector, such as private CM practitioners, Western medicine practitioners and other healthcare professionals, with a view to facilitating patient referrals to CMHHK and enhancing co-ordination among different services;
(4) whether the Government will continue to provide support to CMHHK and, if so, how, with a view to enabling it to develop a broader range of market-oriented healthcare services, products and business initiatives to meet community needs, while further diversifying its services and enhancing their utilisation by the public; and
(5) whether the Government will consider extending the coverage of Elderly Health Care Vouchers to disease prevention and assessment services, and chronic disease-related market-oriented services, provided by CMHHK, and encouraging CMHHK to incorporate more primary healthcare elements into its market-oriented services, including disease prevention and management services, so as to facilitate the provision of healthcare services across the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of care?
Reply:
President,
The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (CMHHK) has commenced services in phases since December 11, 2025. As a flagship Chinese medicine (CM) institution in Hong Kong, CMHHK undertakes five key missions of development, namely healthcare services, education and training, research, collaboration and creating health values. In consultation with CMHHK, a consolidated reply to the Hon Andrew Fan's question is provided as follows:
(1) Within the first year after service commencement, CMHHK primarily provides outpatient and day-patient services. Through the co-operation between multidisciplinary clinical teams, CMHHK aims to develop a mature collaborative model, laying the groundwork for the full-scale launching of various services. From the commencement on December 11, 2025 to September 30, 2026, the service attendances for CMHHK's outpatient (non-inpatient) services are tabulated below:
| Outpatient (Non-inpatient) services (Note) | Approximate service attendances (Percentage) |
| Government-subsidised services | 72 500 (77.1 per cent) |
| Market-oriented services | 21 500 (22.9 per cent) |
| Total | 94 000 (100 per cent) |
(2) Given that referral procedures vary across healthcare professions and institutions, the breakdowns based on the source of referral cannot be provided. From the commencement on December 11, 2025 to September 30, 2026, attendances referred to CMHHK accounted for approximately 30 per cent of the total attendances.
(3), (4) and (5) The Government fully supports CMHHK in paving forward its development missions, through means such as financing CMHHK's development in healthcare services, training and research. Currently, over 90 percent of CM services in Hong Kong are concentrated in private market. Taking up the role of a "change driver" and setting "develop and transfer" as its primary focus, CMHHK will translate applicable outcomes to other CM service providers through service development, professional training and clinical research, thereby driving the overall development of CM services in Hong Kong.
As the first CM service-predominant hospital in Hong Kong, CMHHK focuses on deepening the development of secondary and tertiary CM services, including specialised CM services, special disease programmes, day-patient and 24-hour inpatient services, establishing a service structure that vertically connects CM primary and secondary healthcare. As for special disease programmes, adhering to the principle of "pursuing speciality in specialised CM services and exceling in special disease programmes", CMHHK develops special disease services as an entry point. In light of local clinical needs as well as the characteristics and advantages of CM or integrated Chinese-Western medicine (ICWM) care, CMHHK selects appropriate disease areas to develop a series of special disease programmes, thereby developing the market of CM services.
To facilitate multilateral collaboration, CMHHK is actively exploring collaboration opportunities with CM and Western medicine (WM) healthcare institutions in both the public and private sectors, including expansion of ICWM services, so as to gradually develop a "Hong Kong model" of ICWM services with CM playing the predominant role. As an "open hospital", CMHHK welcomes the industry to participate in hospital work in different ways, with a view to promoting patient flow, talent flow and knowledge flow, and thereby promoting the overall development of CM in Hong Kong.
On creating health values, CMHHK has launched the project titled "Chinese Medicine Across Districts, New Chapter in Health" in June this year to promote CM knowledge and service application at the community level. Two roving campaigns on community health in Sai Kung District were held, and will expand to other districts progressively.
At the present stage of CMHHK's major services, the 24-hour inpatient service will be classified as a tertiary healthcare service, whereas day-patient service, the Specialised Clinic and the Private Clinic fall under specialised services in secondary healthcare services. Since the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme (EHVS) aims to provide financial incentive for elderly persons to choose private primary healthcare services that best suit their health needs, the aforementioned services are not being covered by the EHVS.
Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 15:30
Issued at HKT 15:30
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