Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ3: Sites suitable for private hospital development
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Leung Ka-lau and a reply by the Secretary
for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):
Question:
The Chief Executive stated in his 2008-2009 Policy Address that "the Government
is identifying suitable sites initially including the Wong Chuk Hang, Tseung
Kwan O, Tai Po and North Lantau areas" for the development of private hospitals.
In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the exact lot numbers and areas of such sites, as well as other specific
criteria for selecting them;
(b) whether it knows the current site area and gross floor area of each private
hospital, as well as the numbers of beds therein; and
(c) as there are at present quite a number of schools or other types of
buildings in the urban areas which are vacant, whether it has studied the
feasibility of converting such buildings for private healthcare purposes, which
districts are relatively suitable, and of the mechanism and criteria for
approving the change of their use?
Reply:
President,
Our healthcare system is overly reliant on public services and there exists
significant imbalance between the public and private healthcare sector. One of
our healthcare reform initiatives is to promote and facilitate the development
of private healthcare service, with a view to increasing the overall capacity of
the healthcare system in Hong Kong and addressing the imbalance between the
public and private sector. At the same time, we will encourage more
public-private-partnership and facilitate the creation of more market capacity
for the private sector. To this end, the Government has identified four sites at
Wong Chuk Hang, Tseung Kwan O, Tai Po and Tung Chung for the development of
private hospitals. We will launch an Expression of Interest exercise by the end
of 2009 to solicit market interest in developing private hospitals in the four
identified sites. The Food and Health Bureau will at the same time embark on the
relevant planning process of the individual site for the proposed land use
(including the change of land zoning), conduct district consultation and handle
the interfacing issues with other infrastructure works. Replies to various parts
of the question are provided as follows.
(a) Details of the four sites are at Annex A. When determining if a piece of
land is suitable for hospital development, the major considerations include the
planned use, size and geographical location of the site, the environment and
facilities in the vicinity, the accessibility of the site as well as the
cost-effectiveness of the development. In terms of site selection, hospitals
should preferably be located in elevated positions with good air quality, so as
to allow patients to recover in a comfortable and quiet environment.
(b) At present, there are a total of 13 private hospitals in Hong Kong. Their
site area, gross floor area and number of beds are set out at Annex B.
(c) Generally, buildings for hospital use are specially designed in order to
provide appropriate facilities, such as hospital wards and operation theatres.
In addition, hospitals also have specially-designed ventilation system, and
special facilities to handle medical waste and prevent the spread of infectious
disease. Therefore buildings originally designed for use as schools or for other
purposes may not be suitable for hospital use.
As for the procedures of converting buildings for hospital use, it involves
considerations from planning, land and works perspectives.
Firstly, for the conversion of vacant schools or other buildings to hospital
use, we must consider if provision of hospital service is a permitted use of the
site. Given the various planned use in different sites, some sites could only be
used as hospital with approval by the Town Planning Board (TPB). For example,
for sites falling within "Commercial" and "Residential" zones on outline zoning
plans (OZPs), "Hospital" may be included as a Column 2 use on the Notes of the
OZP. A planning application should be submitted to and approved by TPB before
development of hospital on these sites. Besides, if the relevant site falls
within a zone which does not allow "Hospital" use (such as "Industrial" zone),
hospital development could only proceed after a planning application to amend
the relevant OZP is made and approved by the TPB. In making a decision on the
abovementioned applications, TPB will take into account all relevant planning
considerations for land use, including land use compatibility, traffic and
environmental impacts. As for sites falling within "Government, Institution or
Community" zone on OZPs, hospital use is always permitted. Therefore, vacant
schools or other buildings on these sites could be converted to private hospital
and no planning application to the TPB is required.
Secondly, if the lease conditions governing the lot on which the vacant school
or building stands do not permit hospital use, the lot owner has to apply to the
Lands Department for modifying the relevant conditions of the land lease.
Meanwhile, under the Buildings Ordinance, prior approval of plans and consent to
the commencement of works shall be obtained from the Building Authority (i.e.
the Director of Buildings) for any proposed building works to be carried out in
connection with the proposed change in the use of an existing private building
as a hospital.
In addition, all private hospitals must apply for registration with the
Department of Health (DH) in accordance with the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and
Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance before commencement of operation. DH will
take into account a number of factors when considering the application for
registration, including whether the applicant is suitable for managing the
hospital, and if the relevant premise has suitable accommodation and equipment,
staffing, facilities and supporting services (such as laboratory and catering
service), etc.
As for vacant schools and buildings that are government properties, the
Government will first consider them for government use. Vacant government
property without government use would normally be put to alternative use (e.g.
commercial leasing) on a temporary basis, pending identification of its
long-term use. Most of the vacant government properties are only transiently
vacant for various reasons, such as the property has been earmarked for sale or
development shortly, the property is being allocated for government use, or the
property is undergoing/under planning for refurbishment/renovation, etc.
According to the information provided by the Government Property Agency (GPA),
there is at present no vacant property under GPA's purview that is considered
suitable for hospital use, due to the planned uses and various constraints (e.g.
conditions of land lease, deed of mutual covenant and site location) of the
property.
Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:31
NNNN