TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1978
WORK COMPLETED ON MACLEHOSE DENTAL CENTRE
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COMMUNITY LEADER AND WELL-KNOWN PHILANTHROPIST, SIR SHIU-KIN TANG, TODAY PERFORMED THE TOPPING-OFF CEREMONY ON THE ROOF OF THE MACLEHOSE DENTAL CENTRE TO MARK THE COMPLETION OF THE NINE-STOREY BUILDING.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE DENTAL COMPLEX, WHICH WILL BECOME THE NERVE CENTRE OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S DENTAL SERVICE, BEGAN IN LATE JANUARY 1976 AFTER THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, HAD LAID THE FOUNDATION STONE OF THE BUILDING.
THE BUILDING ON MORRISON HILL, WAN CHAI WILL HOUSE A TRAINING SCHOOL FOR DENTAL NURSES AND A SCHOOL CHILDREN DENTAL CLINIC, BOTH OF WHICH WILL BE NAMED AFTER SIR SHIU-KIN, WHO HAS DONATED MORE THAN $1.5 MILLION TOWARDS THE CONSTRUCTION COST OF THE PROJECT.
IT WILL ALSO ACCOMMODATE THE HEAD OFFICE AND DENTAL SURGERIES OF THE GOVERNMENT DENTAL SERVICE, PRESENTLY LOCATED IN THE WAN CHAI DENTAL CLINIC AT KENNEDY ROAD.
THE CAPITAL COST OF THE PROJECT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED AT $7 MILLION AND AN ADDITIONAL $1 MILLION TO EQUIP AND FURNISH. IT WILL COST ABOUT $5 MILLION A YEAR TO RUN THE CENTRE.
THE PROJECT IS ONE OF THE ACCEPTED RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE 1974 WHITE PAPER ON THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES IN HONG KONG. IN THE WHITE PAPER. THE MEDICAL DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOGNISED THE NEED FOR A SCHOOL DENTAL CARE SCHEME TO PROVIDE A BASIC DENTAL SERVICE AT PRIMARY SCHOOL LEVEL.
THE PROPOSED SCHEME, WHEN IMPLEMENTED, WILL PROVIDE REGULAR EXAMINATION AND SIMPLE TREATMENT, INCLUDING FILLINGS AND EXTRACTIONS.
THE DENTAL CENTRE WILL PROVIDE FACILITIES FOR THE TRAINING OF DENTAL NURSES AND DENTAL HYGIENISTS WHO WILL BE RUNNING THE DENTAL CONSERVATION SERVICE FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN ENTERING PRIMARY ONE.
THE FIRST TRAINING OF DENTAL NURSES AT THE CENTRE WILL START IN SEPTEMBER THIS YEAR AND THE SCHOOL DENTAL CARE SCHEME WILL START IN 1980.
IT IS ENVISAGED THAT AS THE SCHEME GETS INTO ITS STRIDE FOUR MORE SCHOOL DENTAL CLINICS WILL BE FUILT, TWO IN KOWLOON AND TWO IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.
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