S for Health witnesses signing of Strategic Collaboration Agreement between Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (with photos)
24.1.2024

The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, attended the signing ceremony of the Strategic Collaboration Agreement between Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (Agreement) today (January 24) to witness the establishment of a close partnership between the two hospitals in supporting the continuing development of the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (CMH). Witnessed by Professor Lo, the President of the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (GDHTCM), Professor Zhang Zhongde, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CMH, Mr Huen Wong, signed the Agreement which lays the foundation and direction for co-operation between the two hospitals. According to the Agreement and with the support of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Health Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, the CMH and the GDHTCM will foster co-operation on various fronts covering the preparatory work for the hospital's commissioning, exchange of Chinese medicine (CM) talent, cross-boundary distance discussion of cases, establishment of a sharing platform for drug interaction alert notification, organisation of CM academic conferences, development of a scientific research network and advanced nursing training in specialised CM services. In his remarks at the signing ceremony, Professor Lo said, "As announced by the Chief Executive in his 2023 Policy Address, the first CM hospital in Hong Kong is having a co-operation mechanism established with the GDHTCM to cover collaboration in the realm of resource sharing, experience exchanges and technical co-operation so as to support the continuing development of CM, attain the goal of the Development Plan for Traditional Chinese Medicine during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period, and also actualise the regime for extensive consultation, joint contruction and shared benefits with regards to CM as stated in the Construction Plan for the Chinese Medicine Highlands in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (2020-2025) for making further contributions to the high-quality development of CM and driving the development of the Greater Bay Area." Professor Lo also met with the CMH's Board of Directors and core management team today to receive a briefing on the effective implementation of CMH missions and measures to be taken in meeting the challenges arising from the preparatory work for the hospital's commissioning. He expressed to the team his confidence in and expectations for the development of the CMH and encouraged them to strive to accomplish this meaningful task which has a profound influence. The Permanent Secretary for Health, Mr Thomas Chan; the President and Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Professor Alexander Wai; and board members of the CMH also attended the signing ceremony today. As for the delegation led by Professor Zhang, they met with the representatives of the CMH during their stay in Hong Kong to discuss the concrete arrangements and timetable for putting the Agreement into practice. They also joined Mr Chan for an overview of the CMH's construction site at Pak Shing Kok, Tseung Kwan O, and get a better grasp of the architectural design concept and works progress. The CMH adopts a public-private partnership model. The construction of the CMH is fully funded by the HKSAR Government, which announced in June 2021 the commissioning of HKBU through tendering as the contractor in overseeing the development and operation of the CMH. HKBU subsequently incorporated the HKBU Chinese Medicine Hospital Company Limited as the operator for managing, operating and maintaining the CMH in accordance with the service deed for operation at the end of 2021.