Tony Wong
The Health Bureau (SSM) announced yesterday that the government plans to commission a private institution to operate its public hospital complex in Cotai, which is slated to come into service in 2023, for a certain period of time, with the aim of offering residents a high-quality healthcare service and enabling Macau to be better prepared for tackling various challenges for its medical service in the future.
The bureau underlined that the Cotai hospital complex – officially known as Islands Healthcare Complex – will always be a public hospital “by nature”, regardless of under which model it is operated in the future.
“Islands” is the official term for Taipa, Coloane and Cotai together.
The bureau made the announcement during a press conference yesterday, which briefed the media about the bureau’s ongoing study assessing which types of operation and service model will be suitable for the Cotai hospital complex.
The press conference was hosted by Health Bureau Director Alvis Lo Iek Long, Tai Wa Hou, a clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, and Wong Cheng Po, who heads the bureau’s Research and Planning Office.
The Health Bureau has commissioned the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) to carry out a research study on the possible most suitable model for the operation of the Cotai hospital complex.
HKUMed is officially known as Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine.
During yesterday’s press conference, the Health Bureau played a video clip in which HKUMed Dean Gabriel Leung Cheuk-wai delivered a speech about the study that has been commissioned by the Macau Health Bureau. Leung said that the Macau Health Bureau commissioned his faculty in August last year to carry out the research study. Leung said that the HKUMed research team studied and compared four possible operation models for the Cotai hospital complex, before concluding that one of them would be the most suitable for the Cotai hospital.
According to Leung, the HKUMed research team suggests that the Cotai hospital complex should be run by a private institution, either a commercial enterprise or a non-profit organisation, for a certain period of time, while the Macau government will still hold the ownership of all the facilities. During that period of time, Leung said, the institution will be tasked with operating and managing the hospital and repairing the facilities.
Leung said that the research team has concluded that this model will be the most suitable for the Cotai hospital complex’s operation as it could improve the quality level and efficiency of Macau’s healthcare service.
The HKUMed research team completed the study last month.
The Islands Healthcare Complex comprises seven buildings in two phases – six buildings in the first phase and one in the second phase. Among the seven buildings, only the construction of one building has been completed so far – the nursing college which was completed in late 2019. The other five buildings in the first phase are under construction, while the government is still planning and designing the building in the second phase – a rehabilitation hospital.
The five buildings in the first phase under construction comprise three main buildings (a general hospital, a logistics support building and an administration and multi-purpose building), staff quarters, as well as a central laboratory.
During the press conference, Wong presented the major findings of the study carried out by the HKUMed research team.
Aiming for operational start in 2023
Wong reaffirmed that except for the second phase, the Cotai hospital project is slated to be completed next year and come into service in phases in 2023.
Wong noted that the Cotai hospital complex will have a gross area of 420,000 square metres, double the gross area of all the existing Health Bureau facilities combined.
The city has currently three major hospitals, namely the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, the private Kiang Wu Hospital and the University Hospital run by the private Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST).
According to Wong, Macau had 2,149 beds in all its hospitals last year, including 1,020 beds in the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre. Wong said that the Cotai hospital complex will have about 1,100 beds, which means that the total number of beds in Macau will increase by around 50 percent after the Cotai hospital comes into service.
Wong noted that Macau’s healthcare service will face various challenges such as an ageing population, more residents expected to suffer chronic diseases, and constantly rising expenditure in medical service.
4 models
The HKUMed research team suggests, according to Wong, that the Health Bureau should introduce certain reforms in its medical services considering the upcoming operation of the Cotai hospital.
The HKUMed research team studied and compared four possible operation models for the Cotai hospital complex, Wong said.
In model 1, Wong said, the Cotai hospital would be fully operated by the government, like the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre. In this model, the government could easily just copy the model of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre for the Cotai hospital, but it would lack flexibility in human resource management as it would involve the public servant system.
In model 2, Wong said, the Cotai hospital would be run by a company or institution set up by the government, similar to the model of the Hospital Authority (HA) in Hong Kong. In this model, the management could be carried out in a more flexible way than in model one, but it would take a long time for the government to establish a new institution, which would require specific legislation.
In model 3 (similar to the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital), Wong said, while the Cotai hospital would “by nature” still be a public hospital, it would be operated and managed by a private institution, either a commercial organisation or a non-commercial but “excellent” medical institution. In this model, residents could have more options for their healthcare services and enjoy a higher quality medical service. The hospital would not need to comply with the government’s procurement rules and various other regulations. But model 3 also would have certain cons, Wong said, according to which the government would need to set up a new system to supervise the operation of the commissioned institution. In addition, Macau lacks such an institution which would be able to provide healthcare services under this model.
In model 4, Wong said, the Cotai hospital would become a private hospital, which would be run by a private institution which would obtain a concession from the government.
In model 4, the institution would face competition from the private medical sector, which would encourage it to provide more options for patients. However, Wong said, the Macau government would possibly be unable to find such an operator locally.
According to Wong, the HKUMed research team suggests that the Health Bureau adopt model 3 for the future operation of the Cotai hospital complex. The team proposes that the Macau government sign an agreement with the commissioned institution for between five and 10 years, while the government would still hold the ownership of the hospital’s all facilities.
The research team also suggests that the commissioned institution should also carry out medical teaching, training and research, in addition to providing healthcare services.
When asked by the media whether the Macau government is discussing with Peking Union Medical College Hospital (aka Beijing Xiehe Hospital) the possible granting of an agreement to operate the Cotai hospital in conjunction with the Macau government, Lo said that for the time being it was unsuitable to reveal the names of any particular institutions that the government is having discussions with. Lo underlined that the Macau government is discussing the matter with a number of institutions from more than one region.
A video clip in which HKUMed Dean Gabriel Leung Cheuk-wai delivers a speech is shown during yesterday’s press conference about a research study on the possible models for the future operation of the Cotai hospital complex, attended by Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long, Tai Wa Hou (centre), Tai Wa Hou (left), a clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, and Wong Cheng Po, who heads the bureau’s Research and Planning Office. Photo: Tony Wong
