XN000022-1976-08-28 — Page 2

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1976

WORK ON MACLEHOSE DENTAL CENTRE TO BEGIN IN NOVEMBER

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A SEVEN-STOREY COMPLEX, WHICH WILL BECOME THE NERVE CENTRE OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S DENTAL SERVICE, IS TO BE BUILT AT MORRISON HILL.

THE MACLEHOSE DENTAL CENTRE, AS IT IS TO BE CALLED, WILL BE SITUATED BETWEEN QUEEN'S ROAD EAST AND DI KWAN ROAD ADJACENT TO THE TANG CHI NGONG SPECIALIST CLINIC.

THE BUILDING WILL ACCOMMODATE A TRAINING SCHOOL FOR DENTAL NURSES, A SCHOOL CHILDREN'S DENTAL CLINIC AS WELL AS FACILITIES TO REPROVISION THE EXISTING DENTAL HEADQUARTERS IN THE WAN CHAI DENTAL CLINIC AT KENNEDY ROAD.

TENDERS ARE BEING INVITED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROJECT. WORK IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN NOVEMBER THIS YEAR AND BE COMPLETED BY LATE 1977.

THE DENTAL CENTRE WILL COST ABOUT $7 MILLION TO BUILD AND AN ADDITIONAL $1 MILLION TO EQUIP AND FURNISH. RECURRENT COST INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT IS ESTIMATED AT $5 MILLION PER ANNUM.

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 DENTAL CARE SCHOOL TO PROVIDE A BASIC DENTAL CONSERVATION SERVICE AT PRIMARY SCHOOL LEVEL.

THIS SCHEME WILL PROVIDE PARTICIPANTS WITH REGULAR EXAMINATIONS AND SIMPLE CONSERVATION TREATMENT, AND WILL ALSO INCLUDE FILLINGS AND EXTRACTIONS.

MODELLED AFTER NEW ZEALAND AND OTHER COUNTRIES, THIS SERVICE COULD BE CARRIED OUT EFFECTIVELY BY PROPERLY TRAINED DENTAL NURSES PROVIDED THEY ARE SUITABLY SUPERVISED BY QUALIFIED DENTISTS.

THE SCHOOL WILL BE INCLUDED IN A DENTAL CENTRE WHICH WILL ALSO ACCOMMODATE A SCHOOL CHILDREN'S DENTAL CLINIC WITH 30 CHAIRS, SURGERIES FOR THE DENTAL OFFICERS AND THE GOVERNMENT DENTAL CLINIC PRESENTLY IN THE WAN CHAI POLYCLINIC. BOTH THE SCHOOL AND THE SCHOOL CHILDREN'S DENTAL CLINIC WILL BE NAMED AFTER SIR SHIU-KIN TANG WHO HAS MADE SUBSTANTIAL DONATIONS TOWARDS THE ENTIRE PROJECT.

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