Inheritance and innovation
The changed and unchanged of PYNEH
When people mention the leading hospital of the Hong Kong East Cluster situated in Chai Wan, many may not be able to call out its full name: Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH). PYNEH bears expectations from all parties, incorporating the community vision strived by Eastern District residents for over two decades, and carrying the century-old motto of the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital (former Nethersole Hospital) – Keeping Love, Care and Empathy. It was a hard-won to be the first acute hospital after the establishment of the Hospital Authority (HA). Nonetheless, it operates in an exceptional and innovative style.
In the 1970s, there was no acute general hospital in the Eastern District. Moreover, the Island Eastern Corridor and mass transit railways were yet to build in Hong Kong East, residents were facing traffic jams all the time. As such, it took a long time to transfer casualties to hospitals in Central and Western District for treatment if an emergency incident occurred. Therefore, residents and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming strived for building a hospital in Eastern District. An acute general hospital with a scale of thousand beds was given a green light to proceed in the early 80s. Following the decease of the then Hong Kong Governor Sir Edward Youde in Beijing in 1986, Hong Kong government planned to name the hospital after his wife Pamela Youde in 1992, in recognition of his contributions to Hong Kong.
In the 1970s, there was no acute general hospital in the Eastern District. Moreover, the Island Eastern Corridor and mass transit railways were yet to build in Hong Kong East, residents were facing traffic jams all the time. As such, it took a long time to transfer casualties to hospitals in Central and Western District for treatment if an emergency incident occurred. Therefore, residents and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming strived for building a hospital in Eastern District. An acute general hospital with a scale of thousand beds was given a green light to proceed in the early 80s. Following the decease of the then Hong Kong Governor Sir Edward Youde in Beijing in 1986, Hong Kong government planned to name the hospital after his wife Pamela Youde in 1992, in recognition of his contributions to Hong Kong.
Witty approach to win a conversation
In the early 90s, the hospital construction project was in full swing. However, the hospital was unable to recruit a large number of medical professionals in a short period of time. In this connection, it was suggested to relocate former Nethersole Hospital at Bonham Road to Eastern District. The relocation plan was coordinated by Dr Kathleen So, the then Deputy Director (Operations) of the HA. She recalled the challenges in negotiating with different parties, when there was only six months to go before the opening. “The Nethersole team was ready to move the former Nethersole Hospital to Tai Po. There was no need to ‘cool down’ in Chai Wan in between,” Dr So recalls, “I persuaded them with reasons like passing on the core value and culture of the former Nethersole Hospital, and learning experience from operating a large acute hospital. Meanwhile, I sought support from the HA Board and Sir Chung Sze-yuen (Sir SY), the then HA Chairman.”
HA and the former Nethersole Hospital had once struggled with the hospital naming. While Lady Youde was visiting Hong Kong for the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship, Dr So took the opportunity to seek approval from Lady Youde and the government to add ‘Nethersole’ to the hospital name. Dr So then posed as Sir SY's secretary to contact Canon Li Fook-hing, the then Chairman of Hospital Governing Committee of the former Nethersole Hospital. She says, “actually both parties had fallen out badly and refused to communicate, so I went to Sir SY’s office to call Canon Li Fook-hing, invited him to attend a meeting to restart the negotiation. After striking a balance among all parties, it became ‘Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital’ as now.”
HA and the former Nethersole Hospital had once struggled with the hospital naming. While Lady Youde was visiting Hong Kong for the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship, Dr So took the opportunity to seek approval from Lady Youde and the government to add ‘Nethersole’ to the hospital name. Dr So then posed as Sir SY's secretary to contact Canon Li Fook-hing, the then Chairman of Hospital Governing Committee of the former Nethersole Hospital. She says, “actually both parties had fallen out badly and refused to communicate, so I went to Sir SY’s office to call Canon Li Fook-hing, invited him to attend a meeting to restart the negotiation. After striking a balance among all parties, it became ‘Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital’ as now.”
Introducing Health Care Assistant
After solving all problems, there was another challenge right away – recruitment. “There were only 300 beds in the former Nethersole Hospital, the existing staff could not manage the workload of the new hospital with a thousand beds. And there was a shortage of nurses amid the wave of emigration in Hong Kong.” To alleviate the manpower shortage, Dr Pamela Leung, the first Hospital Chief Executive (HCE) of PYNEH and the team introduced the grade of supporting staff ‘Health Care Assistant’, which became Patient Care Assistant today. “We centralised the service of cleansing, transportation and logistics etc., so that the assistants could share the ward duties, including tidying beds, feeding and bathing the patients. All these allowed nurses to focus on looking after the patients.”
Dr Leung is a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She describes PYNEH as ‘a baby whom we delivered with tremendous effort’. With the joint efforts and the innovative mindset of the team, they achieved significant breakthroughs in the past 28 years.
Dr Leung is a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She describes PYNEH as ‘a baby whom we delivered with tremendous effort’. With the joint efforts and the innovative mindset of the team, they achieved significant breakthroughs in the past 28 years.
