No plan to extend lifespan of makeshift hospital
The Hospital Authority (HA) on Thursday said there are no plans to keep a makeshift hospital in Lok Ma Chau open longer than originally planned, despite its high usage and positive responses from patients. The Central Government-Aided Emergency Hospital in the Lok Ma Chau Loop area was originally designed to treat Covid-19 patients. It was later turned into a temporary hospital as part of a trial to improve public healthcare services. The temporary facility began operation in April 2023 and is scheduled to run until 2026. Dr Sin Ngai-chuen, clinical stream coordinator of the New Territories East Cluster, said the plan is to operate “as long as we can” and follow the directions of the government. “The Central Government-Aided Emergency Hospital, by default, is a temporary building in nature. Of course, it can last for a bit longer in terms of years, but it's not going to be long-lasting because this infrastructure and all the basic facilities are going to be just temporary,” he said. “But certainly the result we have obtained here is very encouraging in terms of a pilot scheme. So we will wrap up the findings and experience and we'll try and come up with a possible future development plan.”  The hospital offers a variety of medical services, including diagnostic radiology, endoscopy, drug-resistant organism screening and sleep studies, and is now extending services to include vitamin D pathology tests.  The HA said as of the end of May, the hospital had conducted more than 18,000 tests with its medical-imaging services, about 4,000 more than originally planned.  The median waiting times for patients to get a CT scan, MRI scan and ultrasound scan have all been reduced, from up to 140 weeks to as short as 25 weeks, it noted. And about 690 patients have taken part in the sleep studies at the hospital, with the waiting times up to three years shorter than at a general public hospital. Sin said the HA will learn from its experience with the makeshift hospital and study the possibility of diverting more patient care to outpatient facilities, to help reduce the pressure on hospitals.