ENG-1959 — Page 175

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

The Queen Mary and Kowloon Hospitals are approved Nurses Training Schools for general nurses. Midwives are also trained at the Tsan Yuk Hospital.

The Foundation Stone of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon was laid on the 7th March 1959, by His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. This hospital of 1,320 beds is expected to be ready for use towards the end of 1962. The construction of the Nurses Training School and the Sisters and Nurses Quarters is now well advanced. These Buildings will be available for occupation during the latter half of 1960, when the Government facilities for the training of nurses will be doubled.

The Tung Wah Group of four hospitals, consisting of the Tung Wah Hospital, the Kwong Wah Hospital and Infirmary, the Tung Wah Eastern Hospital and the Sandy Bay Infirmary, accommodate a total of 1,647 beds. The Tung Wah Hospital is an entirely Chinese charitable organization which is also responsible for various other services to the poor and needy of the Colony. A large recurrent subsidy is granted by Government, and the Medical Superintendents of the three main hospitals are Government Medical Officers. These hospitals provide a most useful service and are gradually being modernized. The Board of Directors have planned to rebuild the Kwong Wah Hospital in Kowloon, to provide, in five stages, a large modern general hospital of 1,238 beds. The construction of the first stage was completed in March and work on the second was well advanced by the end of the year.

Hospitals maintained by missionary organizations provide general medical, surgical and maternity care and vary in size from 270 beds to 50 beds. In addition the Hei Ling Chau Leprosarium provides accommodation for 540 leprosy patients and the Haven of Hope Sanatorium for 210 tuberculosis patients. Several of these institutions receive substantial financial assistance while others are supported in varying degrees by the charging of fees, by voluntary donations and by grants from mission funds. In a number of instances where low cost or free treatment is given and any excess of income over expenditure is put towards hospital development, land is granted without premium and the rates are refunded by a Government subvention.

Hospitals maintained by the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association comprise the Ruttonjee Sanatorium, the Freni