PYNEH Files

Whenever massive traffic accidents or incidents occurred at Hong Kong East in the past, the only option was to send the casualties to the hospitals in Central or Western District. That was the reason of PYNEH Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department meant a lot to the residents. PYNEH was put into service on 15 October 1993, and provided daytime A&E service from 30 November. It extended to 24-hour service in the following year. Dr Pamela Leung, the then HCE, says that A&E would always be the last department to commence service when a new hospital opened, following the Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Paediatrics. But for PYNEH, the establishment of A&E was the primary mission. It was completed in six weeks with additional manpower and great teamwork, breaking the record of public hospitals.

A helipad was built at PYNEH in 2003. Instead of landing on Siu Sai Wan helipad, helicopters of the Government Flying Service can directly land on the hospital’s rooftop. PYNEH is also the only hospital which provides 24–hour helipad service. As for Leung Hung-foon, Chief Hospital Foreman of PYNEH, the Lamma Island ferry collision in 2012 impressed him the most. “A helicopter usually takes two to three patients to the hospital. However, the number of casualties on that night was unpredictable. We just knew helicopters kept flying over. Our colleagues were standing by for the whole night in transporting hospital beds and wheelchairs.”

Dr Pamela Leung pointed out that their team was mainly formed by the staff working at the former Nethersole Hospital when PYNEH was newly opened. So, they made reference to the past experience. For example, they would use a single patient record. She explains, “in the past, each department would manage the patient records on their own. When dealing with a patient with complex conditions, medical professionals had to sort out the records from different specialties. But we only kept one single record for each patient, which I believe was pioneered in the HA.”

The former Nethersole Hospital had a long history. The inpatient records of O&G patients and the birth records of newborn babies (below photo) are still being stored in PYNEH. Leung Hung-foon, joined PYNEH in the early days, uncovered a ‘secret pathway’ between the Main Block and the Pathology Block leading to an abandoned floor, which is not open to the public. Formerly a server room, it is now the place storing ‘ancient’ patient records with a history of almost hundred years. Colleagues laugh off it is an ‘ancient tomb’.

Undoubtedly, the garden outside the second floor of the Main Block is a photo hotspot in PYNEH. A classic stone bridge is situated at the centre of the garden, with fish and turtles swimming in the ponds. It has become a relaxing place for the staff, patients and visitors. Its design is also one-of-a-kind among the public hospitals.