The Kiang Wu Nursing College said yesterday that the government has suspended its plan for the tertiary education institution to move to is new campus in the Cotai hospital complex, officially known as Cotai Health Complex, due to COVID-19 and a string of other reasons.
The current campus of the college is located on the peninsula next to Kiang Wu Hospital.
Van Iat Kio, who heads the college, spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a public event at the college.
The new nursing college building was completed in 2019, the first and so far the only building completed in the Cotai hospital complex. The three main buildings of the complex are now slated to be completed next year at the earliest. Completion of the hospital complex project has been delayed for years.
The government initially slated Kiang Wu Nursing College to move to the nursing college building in Cotai last year.
However, the government started to use the building in late March last year as a temporary isolation centre for those who had been in close contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients or those recovering after COVID-19 hospital treatment. However, no one has stayed at the building for many months.
Van said yesterday that her college has been told by the government that the plan to relocate her college to the nursing college building in Cotai has been suspended due to COVID-19 and a raft of other reasons.
Van said that the government would possibly use the building for other purposes. Van said that the facilities on the current campus would still be able to meet teaching demand in the near future.
In a short statement last night, the Health Bureau (SSM) said that the government is reviewing the possible use for the nursing college building in the Cotai hospital complex, with the aim of making the best use of the building. The statement did not clarify whether the government has suspended its plan to pass the building to Kiang Wu Nursing College.
This undated handout photo taken from the website of the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) yesterday shows the nursing college building in the Cotai Health Complex.
