Chinese University Hospital borrowed 4 billion yuan from the government in 2015. However, the COVID-19 epidemic has affected the hospital’s income. If it cannot operate according to the original repayment plan, the government earlier proposed to the Legislative Council to postpone the repayment period for 5 years.
CUHK Hospital today (18th) invited a number of members of the Legislative Council to visit the site to understand the operation of the hospital.
Ge Peifan, a member of the Legislative Council of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, believes that the hospital's high-quality services deserve support.
Non-profit teaching hospital accepts new crown patients under epidemic situation
The Zhongda Hospital will open in September 2021, and the service will be rolled out in phases. It currently provides 215 beds, as well as emergency and specialist outpatient clinics.
The opening of the hospital coincided with the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, and experienced the fifth wave of the epidemic last year. During this period, it received 471 new crown patients referred by public hospitals. However, the epidemic also caused the hospital to lose its budget.
Ge Peifan pointed out that CUHK Hospital is a non-profit private teaching hospital wholly owned by CUHK, and all surplus can only be invested in CUHK Hospital and CUHK School of Medicine.
The goal of the hospital is to balance the gap between public and private medical care, and to provide middle-class citizens with affordable, transparent, and high-quality medical services based on a pricing model. This is exactly what Hong Kong needs and deserves support.
However, she also pointed out that the delayed repayment arrangement is somewhat controversial and will continue to be discussed in the Legislative Council.
According to the government's proposal, it is hoped that the hospital will be allowed to defer the repayment for 5 years and provide 15 years of public medical care instead of interest.
Since 2015, Zhongda Hospital has received a total of 4.033 billion yuan in government loans for construction in batches. The hospital will be completed in 2021 and begin operations in September of the same year.
(Photo by Xia Jialang)
The price of public medical service should be calculated according to the cost of the hospital authority
DAB Health Affairs Spokesperson and Legislative Council member Liang Xi said that during the visit, it was pointed out that the government and the Hospital Authority have the leading role in purchasing the services of Zhongda Hospital to compensate for the interest, that is, the government and the Hospital Authority put forward service demands, and the price It should be calculated based on the service cost of the HA.
At the same time, the Hospital Authority should also take the lead in referral rights, and Zhongda Hospital cannot refuse to admit patients.
Liang Xi also hoped that the government would send staff to the board of directors of Zhongda Hospital to supervise the operation.
Zhongda Hospital applied to delay repayment for 5 years Lu Chongmao: It is worth supporting the difficult transition period Five-year repayment or it will not be able to operate
