The Hospital Authority was founded in 1990 under the Hospital Authority Ordinance. Since December 1991, it has been operating public hospitals, providing medical services in Hong Kong. It handles about 90 percent of patients, compared with 10 percent in the private sector. The HA is accountable to the SAR government through the secretary for food and health, who formulates health policies and monitors the HA. It runs 42 public hospitals and institutions, 48 specialist and 73 general clinics, offering a total of 27,000 beds and has about 64,000 people in its employ.

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(HK Edition 10/25/2013 page8)