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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.
The Civil Hospital contains 170 beds in 21 wards. 5,455 in-patients and 28,297 out-patients were treated during 1923 as against 4,447 and 25,892 respectively in 1922. 964 cases of malarial fever were admitted as against 484 in 1922 and 399 in 1921. The total cases of malaria for all Government Hospitals and the Tung Wa Hospital shows an increase of 166 cases as compared with the year 1922. The Maternity Hospital contains 9 beds for Europeans, plus 3 extra beds, and 8 for Asiatics. 674 confinements occurred during the year as against 617 in 1922. The Victoria Hospital at the Peak contains 41 beds, and during 1923, 299 patients were under treatment there. At Kennedy Town Hospital, which contains 26 beds, 30 cases were treated in 1923, 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. 309 patients of all races were treated during 1923 and there were 3 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. The hospital is managed by a committee of Chinese gentlemen annually elected, their appointment being submitted to the Governor for confirmation. It is under the supervision of a visiting physician, who is a member of the Medical Department, whilst two Chinese house surgeons, trained in Western medicine, are members of the hospital staff. There are 450 beds in the buildings, and 10,142 patients were accommodated during 1923.