Two organizations have expressed interest in operating a hospital offering traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments, just a week before the government reviews market interest in four sites which have been set aside for private hospital development.

One of the two organizations expressing interest in such a facility is the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, which operates five hospitals and TCM clinics, Secretary for Food and Health York Chow disclosed Wednesday after a Legislative Council meeting.

The government invited expressions of interest concerning the development of private hospitals on the four designated sites in December. Those expressions of interest must be filed by the end of this month. The government then will assess responses and opinions on the question and decide where to go next.

Chow said the government will impose no restrictions on the type of medicine to be practiced at the new private facilities, whether it be Western or Chinese. However, he also indicated that potential operators offering diversified service will have an advantage.

The driving principle is that the new private hospitals must offer more choices to the people of Hong Kong, especially those who carry medical insurance, said the advocate for Hong Kong's healthcare financing reform.

Feedback from the medical sector revealed a consensus that TCM alone is not sufficient and that the traditional approach ought to be combined with Western medicine, at the new facilities, Chow added.

With pilot programs that integrate TCM and Western medicine having yielded results, the government will encourage the integration approach in its policy, he said.

S C Mak, a member of the TCM study group of the Hong Kong Ideas Centre (HKIC), a non-profit think tank, hailed the interest shown by the private sector to open TCM hospitals.

A TCM-based hospital would provide a base for training local TCM practitioners and conduct TCM research. "Currently, students from Hong Kong wishing to undertake studies of TCM must go to the mainland for their internship," he said. "A TCM hospital is meaningful to Hong Kong in terms of both clinical medicine and research."

He said he also hoped a hospital would help attract mainland experts to Hong Kong and increase cross-border exchange.

Medical sector lawmaker Leung Ka-lau doesn't see high demand for a TCM-based hospital. "The organizations must have calculated the costs and potential revenue before submitting a submission. But I don't think public money should be used to support the hospital," he said.

(HK Edition 03/25/2010 page1)