Past and present of AHNH
A pioneer in nurse training and maternal and child health services
In 1891, the former London Missionary Society, which ran the Alice Memorial Hospital, appointed Mrs H. Stevens as matron – the first properly trained nurse at the hospital. She discovered a lack of nursing knowledge and skills in Hong Kong and pioneered the training of nurses for the opening of Nethersole Hospital, introducing the first four Hong Kong-trained nurses.AHNH has had many firsts in its long history. Alice Memorial Maternity Hospital, commenced service in 1904, was the first maternity hospital in Hong Kong to provide midwifery training and pioneered the introduction of antenatal registration and infant care clinics, making a significant contribution to maternal and child health services in Hong Kong.
Training ground for Dr Sun Yat-sen
After the service commencement of the Alice Memorial Hospital in 1887, Dr Patrick Manson and colleagues established the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in the same year. A five-year certificate programme was launched, and graduates were awarded a Licenciate of Medicine and Surgery. A total of 41 students graduated from 1887 to 1915, including Dr Sun Yat-sen who was the first batch of graduates. The College was incorporated into the University of Hong Kong in 1912 as the Faculty of Medicine.
Three artists in the hospital
Artistic atmosphere can be experienced at AHNH. Prof Tam Sheung-wai, the then Chairman of the Hospital Executive Committee, was good friends with renowned sculptor Prof Kao Wah-man, and invited him to create works for the hospital. The three sculptures of horses outside the hospital are intended to wish patients good health.
Paintings by well-known artists, including Tsui Kar-yeung and Lydia Fong, are also showcased in different areas in the hospital. Tsui Kar-yeung donated hundreds of paintings to the hospital at the invitation of Dr Chen Chung-i, the first Hospital Chief Executive. The architect sent three of Lydia Fong’s famous paintings – ‘Five Finger Mountain’, ‘Plum Blossom’, and ‘Dragon Boat Races’ – to Japan to be made into plastic plates and featured in the lift lobby. Dr Sin says the artworks and sculptures not only give the hospital a pleasing aesthetics but also reduce the anxiety of patients.
Stories set in stones
Alice Memorial Hospital, named by Sir Kai Ho Kai in memory of his wife, opened on 16 February 1887, marking a new era of Western medical services in Hong Kong. This century-old foundation stone is now exhibited in the hospital’s museum.
In the celebration of the 120th Anniversary of AHNH in 2007, trees were planted, and a time capsule containing a letter from the then Chairman of the Hospital Executive Committee to future staff members was buried and will be opened on the hospital’s 150th Anniversary.
A stone statue of a doctor’s stethoscope in the style of a rope loop, exhibited outside the Run Run Shaw Ambulatory Care Centre, represents clinical decision making in the provision of appropriate treatment for patients.