1920-1930
HONGKONG, 1921,
47
23
A halt station was opened at Ho Mun Tin, mile 2, where the local morning and evening trains call for the convenience of a new community which has lately settled at this point, and a temporary platform, built of old sleepers, was provided. This is not an ideal site for a station and will probably not be required when the road trams serve the neighbourhood, as is anticipated will be the case in the near future.
The gross receipts for the year were $603,980.77, as against $520,176.10 for 1920, an increase of $83,804.67, and the balance after paying working expenses stands at $75,989.71.
VI.-GOVERNMENT AND AIDED INSTITUTIONS.
(a)-HOSPITALS.
Government hospitals consist of the Civil Hospital, to which is attached an isolated Maternity Hospital, the Victoria Hospital for Women and Children, and the Kennedy Town Infectious Diseases Hospital. There is an Observation Station capable of accommodating 1,500 persons in the event of an outbreak of infectious disease on board a ship arriving in the harbour.
The Civil Hospital contains 170 beds in 21 wards. 4,815 in-patients and 27,322 out-patients were treated during 1921, as against 4,701 and 31,926 respectively in 1920. 399 cases of malarial fever were admitted, as against 243 in 1920 and 218 in 1919. The total cases of malaria for all Government hospitals and the Tung Wa Hospital shows an increase of 339 cases, as compared with the year 1920. The Maternity Hospital contains nine beds for Europeans and eight for Asiatics. 610 confinements occurred during the year, as against 496 in 1920. The Victoria Hospital at the Peak contains 41 beds, and during 1921 213 patients were under treatment there. At Kennedy Town Hospital, which contains 26 beds, 70 cases were treated in 1921, all being infectious.
(b)-LUNATIC ASYLUM.
The Asylum is under the direction of the Superintendent of the Civil Hospital. European and Chinese patients are separated, the European portion containing 14 beds in separate wards and the Chinese portion 16 beds. 300 patients of all races were treated during 1921 and there were eight deaths.
(c)-THE TUNG WA AND OTHER CHINESE HOSPITALS.
The Tung Wa Hospital, opened in 1872, is mainly supported by the voluntary subscriptions of Chinese, but receives an annual grant of $8,000 from the Government. Only Chinese are treated in this institution. Various other services not appertaining to a hospital are performed by the institution, such as the free burial of the poor, the repatriation of destitutes, the maintenance of free vernacular schools and the organisation of charitable relief in emergencies. Chinese as well as European methods of treatment are employed in accordance with the wishes expressed by the patients or their friends. Over half the number are now treated by Western methods.