Sessional_Paper_1903 — Page 357

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REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER TO THE TUNG WAH HOSPITAL.

TUNG WAH HOSPITAL,

HONGKONG, 14th February, 1903.

SIR,I have the honour to submit, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, the Annual Report of the Tung Wah Hospital for the year 1902.

The number of patients in the wards at the beginning of the year was 144; 2,576 were admitted during 1902, making a total of 2,720 cases; 1,422 were discharged; 1,169 died; leaving 129 patients in the Hospital at the close of the

year.

The admissions during the past ten years have been as follows:-

1893,

1894,

1895,

1896,

1897,

1898,

1899,

1900,

1901,

1902,

.2,255

.2,354

.2.732

2,041

2,776

.2,898

2,542

2,981

2,989

.2,576

Of the 2,576 admissions, 95 were transferred for treatment to other institu- tions, as follows:-20 to Government Civil Hospital, 3 to the Lunatic Asylum, 71 to Kennedy Town Infectious Diseases Hospital, and 1 to the Italian Convent.

Of the fatal cases, 364 were in a dying condition at the time of admission. There remains a net total of 2,117 actually treated in the Tung Wah Hospital, of whom 675, .e., 31.9 per cent., were under treatment by European methods, and 1,442, .e., 68.1 per cent., under Chinese treatment.

The diminution in the number of admissions is due to the smaller number of plague cases; the number of those actually treated is practically the same as last year's figure (2,146); and the proportion under European treatment is slightly larger, 31.9 per cent., as compared with 30.4 per cent. in 1901.

There is, moreover, a marked tendency to improvement in the work of the Tung Wah Hospital which cannot be expressed in figures. All cases diagnosed malaria are required to take quinine, whether under European or Chinese treatment. By a recent resolution of the Directors, all cases of infectious disease go under European methods of treatment, and are hence more under the control of the Inspecting Medical Officer; the violent jealousy that previously existed against the introduction of European methods, especially among the native doctors, has to a large extent subsided, and they are frequently ready to be advised by the European- trained house-surgeon, who thus influences the treatment of many cases of fracture, dislocation, abscess, &c., which remain nominally under Chinese treatment; and many matters pertaining to the regular changing of bedding, clothing, &c., formerly secured only by continuous effort and watchfulness, have now become routine practice.

302 dead bodies were brought to the Hospital mortuary to await burial. 126 of these, and also 120 bodies of persons who died within the Hospital itself, were sent to the Government Public Mortuary for internal examination.

Free burial was provided by the Hospital for 2,703 poor persons.

The number of visits to the Out-Patient Department was 88,842.

456 destitute persons were provided with food and shelter for short periods. 1,706 persons were vaccinated at, and in connection with, the Hospital.

The Tung Wah Hospital was again used during the plague epidemic as a convenient centre for the diagnosis and observation of cases of the disease. It was not found necessary to open a plague branch of the Hospital during 1902.

During the cholera epidemic, two large airy wards were set apart for the treat- ment of this disease. Several cases originated within the Hospital, but the Assistant Medical Officer of Health, after careful enquiry, came to the conclusion that the cause was contamination of the water supply outside the Hospital.