The Macao Union Hospital in Cotai hosted a public open day on Saturday, including a media tour, during which Lei Wai Seng, a deputy director of the hospital, said that with its intensive care unit (ICU) scheduled to come into operation later this month, the hospital’s emergency department will gradually become fully operational in the second half of this year, eventually receiving all ambulance‑transported patients from Coloane, Cotai, and parts of Taipa.
Dr Lei also said that as the hospital’s radiotherapy centre has already come into full operation, the local government will no longer need to arrange for cancer patients requiring radiotherapy to receive treatment outside Macau.
The large-scale healthcare complex in south Cotai is officially known as Islands Healthcare Complex – Macao Medical Centre of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CMM-PUMCH). It is jointly operated by the internationally renowned Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) in Beijing and the Macau government thanks to the Central People’s Government’s support.
“Islands” is the official term referring to Taipa, Coloane and Cotai.
The healthcare complex, Macau’s largest hospital, started its trial operation on December 20, 2023, after which it officially opened on September 16, 2024.
For short, the large-scale public healthcare facility is officially known as Macao Union Medical Centre or Macao Union Hospital.
Since the start of its trial operation in December 2023, a Health Bureau (SSM) emergency station had been operated by the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, headquartered on the peninsula’s Guia Hill, in an area of the Macao Union Hospital, providing basic emergency services for those in Taipa, Coloane and Cotai, but without ambulance services. Eventually, the operation of the facility was transferred to the Macao Union Hospital in January this year, when it was upgraded from an emergency station to an emergency department.
The Macao Union Hospital’s emergency department began accepting ambulance‑transported patients from Taipa, Coloane and Cotai last month, though only under certain circumstances.
The city’s ambulance services are run by the Fire Services Bureau (CB).
During Saturday’s media tour, Dr Lei briefed reporters about various advanced medical machines in the hospital while elaborating on the healthcare complex’s latest operations and services and future developments.
Dr Lei noted that after taking over the operation of the emergency treatment facility from the Health Bureau in January this year, the Macao Union Hospital had kept its modus operandi largely unchanged until last month when its emergency department started accepting ambulance‑transported patients.
Dr Lei said that his hospital began collaborating with the Fire Services Bureau last month, accepting injured individuals from traffic accidents or other accidents in Taipa, Coloane and Cotai.
Dr Lei said that his hospital also launched cooperation with a residential care home for senior citizens in Coloane’s Seac Pai Van public housing neighbourhood and one in the island’s Ka Ho hamlet last month. Since then, those in these two care homes calling ambulance services will be taken to the Macao Union Hospital, he said.
Dr Lei said that with its ICU scheduled to come into operation later this month, his hospital’s emergency department will gradually receive ambulance‑transported patients from Taipa, Coloane and Cotai more often in the second half of this year. Eventually, he said, the Macao Union Hospital will, in general, receive all ambulance‑transported patients from Taipa, Coloane and Cotai.
For patients or injured individuals in Taipa, Dr Lei said, they will be taken to either the Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre in the peninsula or the Macao Union Hospital, depending on whichever is closer. The former is informally known as Peak Hospital.
“For patients in some areas in central Taipa, it would be quicker to get them to the Peak Hospital via the old bridge”, he said.
The Macau-Taipa Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge is informally known as the “old bridge”.
The Macao Union Hospital has three deputy directors, one from Macau and two from the Chinese mainland. The hospital’s current director is Liu Zhengyin, who is from PUMCH in Beijing.
Dr Lei, a senior official from the Macau Health Bureau, was appointed as a deputy director of the Macao Union Hospital in early 2024. He previously worked as a clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre.
Dr Lei noted that the Macao Union Hospital has three charging schemes for patients. The first level is free medical services available to Macau residents who are eligible for free public health services. Upon referral from the Health Bureau, they can enjoy free medical services at the Macao Union Hospital.
Dr Lei noted that the second level is fee-based medical services where Macau residents have to pay but with a 30-percent discount on the fees, while non-local residents such as non-resident workers (NRWs) are be charged the standard rates.
The third level consists of private health services providing locals and non-locals alike with high-end healthcare options, but local residents are offered a 10-percent discount.
Radiotherapy covers all types of cancers
Dr Lei also noted that the Macao Union Hospital features Macau’s largest radiotherapy centre, which has now fully come into operation, covering radiotherapy for all types of cancers. Consequently, the local government will no longer need to arrange for cancer patients requiring radiotherapy to receive treatment outside Macau, he said.
Dr Lei also said that about 90 percent of the medical services provided by his hospital are currently still free medical services referred by the Health Bureau. He said that the open day event aimed to enable more residents to gain a better understanding of his hospital’s latest medical services so that more of those in need would choose to seek treatment there.
It has been the third time that the hospital hosted a public open day, after one in 2024 and one in 2025.
Dr Lei said that his hospital’s specialist clinics received 33,455 patients last year, while they received about 23,000 patients in the first five months of this year.
Dr Lei said that his hospital received 1,009 inpatients last year, while the number of inpatients received in the first five months of this year, 1,057, already exceeded last year’s total number.
Dr Lei also said that his hospital is aiming for its oncology centre to become a one-stop centre for cancer patients, providing comprehensive care throughout the entire treatment process, spanning from diagnosis, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, to palliative care.
Dr Lei said that his hospital will continue to place strong emphasis on enhancing its capacity to conduct complex surgical procedures, while it will increase the number of inpatients beds in service from the current 150 to 300 next year.
The hospital will run 852 inpatient beds ultimately when it is fully operational. Dr Lei underlined that his hospital will only gradually increase the number of inpatient beds in service in line with Macau’s changing medical needs over time, pointing out that an increase in inpatient beds will require a corresponding rise in staff capacity.
He also said that the specialty medical services provided by his hospital and the Peak Hospital will complement each other. For instance, he said, his hospital provides radiotherapy, which the Peak Hospital does not provide.
The private Kiang Wu Hospital also runs a radiotherapy centre.
Dr Lei also said that considering Macau’s low birth rate, his hospital does not plan to launch paediatric or obstetrics and gynaecology services, both of which are currently provided by the Peak Hospital.
Lei Wai Seng, a deputy director of the Macao Union Hospital, briefs journalists about a CT scanner during Saturday’s media tour, which covered the hospital’s imagiology centre, radiotherapy centre, ambulatory medical centre, and specialist clinics – Photo: Tony Wong
