Hong Kong’s largest hospital opens in Kai Tak with launch of general outpatient services

Kai Tak Hospital, Hong Kong’s largest public hospital, has begun operations, with general and specialist outpatient services offered in its first phase. Kai Tak Hospital in Kowloon Bay. Photo: GovHK. Bookings at the Family Medicine Integrated Centre, which provides general outpatient services, were full on the first day, according to a government statement. Specialist outpatient services will begin later this month. Located in Kowloon Bay, the hospital will have 2,400 beds when it is fully operational, according to a government statement. The 500,000-square-metre facility comprises five towers and 37 operating theatres. The hospital’s opening will take place in two phases, with the first phase including the opening of the Specialist Outpatient Clinic Block – where the Family Medicine Integrated Centre is located – and the Oncology Block. Examinations by some departments, including the radiology and pathology departments, will also begin gradually in October. The Family Medicine Integrated Centre at Kai Tak Hospital in Kowloon Bay. Photo: GovHK. Kai Tak Hospital is set to replace the 2,018-bed Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei as the city’s largest public hospital. Services from Queen Elizabeth Hospital are gradually being relocated to Kai Tak Hospital, while the Yau Ma Tei site will be redeveloped for other healthcare services. The opening of Kai Tak Hospital comes 10 years after it was proposed in the government’s 2016 Policy Address as part of a blueprint for healthcare development. The second phase of the hospital’s opening, in 2028, will include the commencement of accident and emergency services, which will be around three times larger in scale than at Queen Elizabeth Hospital currently. Clinical services in the remaining specialties, such as paediatrics and g