The Islands Healthcare Complex – Macao Medical Centre of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), located in south Cotai, started its trial operation yesterday, when an opening ceremony was held there, officiated by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and the new health facility’s top executives.
The healthcare complex, informally known as Cotai hospital, aims to enable Macau residents to receive high-quality medical treatment for extraordinarily complicated diseases without having to seek such treatment outside the city while also promoting the development of Macau’s “big health” sector.
The healthcare facility, aka Macao Union Hospital, is operated by PUMCH in collaboration with the Macau government thanks to the central government’s support.
The complex’s first phase comprises six buildings, while the construction of its second phase, i.e., a rehabilitation hospital, has just got off the ground.
According to its website, the complex covers a land area of 76,000 square metres, with gross floor area amounting to 430,000 square metres.
The Macao Union Hospital will have 26 operating theatres and over 1,000 beds when fully operational, making it by far the largest medical facility in Macau.
Delivering a speech during yesterday’s ceremony, Ho said that the opening of the hospital marks a new chapter in Macau’s medical development. Ho said that thanks to the PUMCH brand, the Macao Union Hospital aims to become a first-class medical centre based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) with international influence.
Ho also said that thanks to the experience and skills of the top PUMCH medical team, the Macao Union Hospital aims to serve as a high-level training and development platform for local health workers.
Also delivering a speech, PUMCH President Zhang Shuyang reaffirmed that after its trial operation, the Macao Union Hospital will officially open on September 16 next year.
National Health Commission (NHC) Vice Minister Lei Haichao said in a speech that the operation of the Macao Union Hospital is a “precious” achievement of the collaboration between the Macau government and the PUMCH under the central government’s support, adding that the health complex is a project demonstrating the successful health cooperation between the mainland and Macau in compliance with the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.
In addition to Ho and the Macao Union Hospital’s top executives, yesterday’s ceremony was co-hosted by senior officials such as Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Macau’s first chief executive and now vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, Central People’s Government Liaison Office in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Director Zheng Xincong, Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa, and Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U.
After yesterday’s ceremony, the guests were taken around the healthcare complex. They were briefed by Dr Wu Wenming, who heads the Macao Union Hospital, about its various facilities and equipment.
Dr Wu is a vice-president of the PUMCH.
Guests such as Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (centre), Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee Vice Chairman Edmund Ho Hau Wah (fourth from left), Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Macau Director Zheng Xincong (fourth from right), National Health Commission (NHC) Vice Minister Lei Haichao (third from left), and Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa (third from right) are about to cut the ribbon during yesterday’s ceremony marking the Macao Union Hospital trial operation. – Photo: GCS
A Macao Union Hospital health professional briefs guests such as Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (front, centre) about Macau’s first Ethos-therapy machine used for radiation oncology treatment. Ethos therapy is an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven holistic solution designed to increase the capability, flexibility and efficiency of radiotherapy, which is developed by the United States’ Varian Medical Systems. Ho told reporters at the hospital yesterday that it has purchased the world’s most advanced medical equipment and devices. – Photo: Tony Wong
