The Macau government has submitted a bill regulating the management of its public hospital complex in Cotai, officially known as Islands Healthcare Complex, which will be operated by Peking Union Medical College Hospital (aka Beijing Xiehe Hospital), to the Legislative Assembly (AL).
The bill proposes that the employment of the Cotai hospital complex’s staff members will be regulated by the city’s labour legal system for the private sector, rather than by the government’s employment system for public servants, with the aim of increasing the flexibility in recruiting highly-qualified health professionals.
“Islands” is the official term for Taipa, Coloane and Cotai together.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, who is also the spokesman for the government’s top advisory Executive Council, announced during a press conference at Government Headquarters late last month that the government had finished drafting the bill.
The bill has now been uploaded onto the website of the legislature, which is yet to schedule a plenary session for the debate and vote of the bill’s outline.
The Macau government announced in late 2021 that it had decided to commission Peking Union Medical College Hospital (北京協和醫院) to operate the Cotai hospital complex.
The Cotai hospital complex is now scheduled to start operating in phases at the end of this year.
The construction of three main buildings of the Islands Healthcare Complex was completed last month. The three main buildings comprise a general hospital, a logistics support building, and an administration and multi-purpose building.
The whole Cotai hospital project has two phases – six buildings in the first phase and one in the second phase.
The first phase comprises the three main buildings, a nursing college, staff quarters, and a central laboratory building.
The construction of the nursing college was completed in October 2019, while the construction of the staff quarters was completed in September last year.
The construction of the central laboratory building is now slated to be completed in March this year, when the whole first phase of the Cotai hospital complex will be completed.
Concerning the building in the second phase – a rehabilitation hospital, for the time being the government still does not have a schedule as to when its construction will get off the ground.
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
The explanatory note of the bill, which has also been uploaded onto the legislature’s website, points out that the Macau government decided in 2021 to cooperate with Peking Union Medical College Hospital in the operation and management of the Cotai hospital complex after considering the National Health Commission’s (NHC) suggestion.
The explanatory note says that the bill is needed for the local government to develop the city’s health tourism and “big health” sector.
The bill stipulates that the Macau government will ensure that the operation of the Islands Healthcare Complex will be sufficiently financed, while Peking Union Medical College Hospital will be responsible for operating and managing the Cotai hospital complex, through its “brand” and medical techniques, in collaboration with the Macau government.
According to the bill, the Cotai hospital complex’s operation will be overseen by the secretary for social affairs and culture.
6 objectives
According to the bill, the Islands Healthcare Complex, as a public health institution, shall have six objectives, namely 1) providing healthcare in Macau; 2) supporting the implementation of the Macau government’s health policy; 3) providing specialty medical education and conducting medical research in compliance with Macau’s health policy; 4) promoting the development of Macau’s health system and healthcare; 5) participating in the development of a big health sector with the aim of supporting Macau’s appropriate economic diversification; and 6) developing itself into a national-level regional medical centre.
The bill proposes the setting-up of a strategic development committee as the Islands Healthcare Complex’s top decision-making body. The bill proposes that the committee will consist of eight members to be appointed by the chief executive.
The bill’s explanatory note says that members from Peking Union Medical College Hospital’s management team will be “an important part” of the Islands Healthcare Complex’s eight-member strategic development committee.
The bill proposes that the Cotai hospital complex will have its own system regulating staff recruitment, selection, hiring, salaries and benefits, social security payments, performance evaluation, incentives, and disciplinary measures, which will not be subject to rules of the city’s legal system concerning the employment of public servants.
This handout photo taken from the Public Works Bureau’s (DSOP) website yesterday shows the Islands Healthcare Complex in Cotai last month.
