XN000022-1975-10-13 — Page 2

1

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1975.

PRINCESS MARGARET HOSPITAL TO BEGIN OPERATION NEX WEEK

******

THE MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR PRINCESS MARGARET HOSPITAL WILL ADMIT ITS FIRST PATIENT NEXT MONDAY (OCTOBER 20) WITH THE OPENING OF THE 162-BED INFECTIOUS DISEASE WARDS.

THE HOSPITAL WILL BE OPENED IN TWO STAGES, THE FIRST WHICH IS TO BE PHASED OVER A PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS UP TO MARCH NEXT YEAR WHEN ABOUT 1,000 BEDS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR USE BY THE PUBLIC.

THE INFECTIOUS DESEASES BLOCK WILL BE THE FIRST IN THE PROGRAMME OF PHASED OPENING, FOLLOWED BY THE OPENING OF THE GERIATRIC WARDS IN EARLY NOVEMBER, INITIALLY, 74 BEDS WILL BE PROVIDED IN THE GERIATRIC WARDS FOR THE ELDERLY, THIS WILL BE INCREASED TO 222 BY THE END OF THE FIRST STAGE.

BY DECEMBER, ONE CLINICAL UNIT EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SPECIALTIES: MEDICINE, SURGERY, PAEDIATRICS, OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, AND ORTHOPAEDICS WILL BE IN OPERATION.

THE FINAL PHASE IN THE FIRST STAGE WILL BE THE OPENING OF THE CASUALTY DEPARTMENT SOMETIME EARLY NEXT YEAR.

IN THE SECOND AND FINAL STAGE, ANOTHER CLINICAL UNIT EACH OF THE SPECIALTIES OF MEDICINE, SURGERY, PAEDIATRICS AND ORTHOPAEDICS WILL BE OPENED. WHEN THE HOSPITAL IS FULLY OPERATIONAL, THERE WILL BE A TOTAL OF 1,340 BEDS.

THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES UNIT IS SO DESIGNED THAT

PATIENTS OF DIFFERENT DISEASES CAN BE ISOLATED FROM ONE ANOTHER. THERE ARE ONE TO THREE BEDS IN EACH ROOM ACCORDING TO THE SEVERITY OF INFECTION, WITH INDIVIDUAL TOILET FACILITIES ATTACHED. THE UNIT HAS ITS OWN FACILITIES FOR X-RAY,

SURGICAL OPERATIONS, LINEN EXCHANGE ETC.

OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE HOSPITAL INCLUDE;-

*

*

*

A GERIATRIC UNIT, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN HONG KONG. THE OBJECT OF SUCH A UNIT IS TO DEAL WITH THE CLINICAL, PREVENTIVE, REHABILITATIONAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF ILLNESS AMONG THE ELDERLY.

A 16-BED RENAL DIALYSIS UNIT WITH EQUIPMENT WORTH ABOUT $1 MILLION, INCLUDING 96 ARTIFICIAL KIDNEYS. A PLASTIC SURGERY UNIT WITH 30 BEDS. THERE WILL BE THREE SPECIALLY TRAINED SURGEONS TO PERFORM PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY ON PATIENTS WHO SUFFER FROM CONGENITAL DEFORMITIES AND INJURIES CAUSED BY INDUSTRIAL AND TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS,

/*A THEATER