The opening ceremony of the CUHK-PWH Lee Quo Wei Cardiovascular Intervention Centre was held today (2 April). Officiating guests included Dr. the Honorable Lee Quo-wei, Chairman of the Wei Lun Foundation Limited and Former Chairman and Life Member of the Council, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Mrs. Lee; Mr. Anthony Wu, Chairman of the Hospital Authority; Dr. Vincent Cheng, Chairman of the Council, CUHK; Prof. Joseph Sung, Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK; Mr. Edward Ho, Chairman of the Hospital Governing Committee, Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH); Dr. Fung Hong, Cluster Chief Executive, New Territories East Cluster; Prof. Fok Tai-fai, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, CUHK; and Prof. Yu Cheuk-man, Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, CUHK and Director of the Lee Quo Wei Cardiovascular Intervention Centre.

The Centre was established in 2010 with the generous donation from Dr. Lee Quo-wei, his family and the Wei Lun Foundation Limited. Located on the second floor of the Main Clinical Block and Trauma Centre of the PWH, the 3,000-square-feet Centre is equipped with advanced imaging and invasive equipment to provide unique and comprehensive diagnosis and treatment for cardiovascular diseases (including coronary heart disease, cardiac arrhythmia and heart failure), serving a population of 1.3 million in the New Territories East Cluster. It also serves as a referral centre for cardiovascular diseases for the rest of Hong Kong.

Prof. Joseph Sung, Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK, expressed his gratitude to the Lee family and the Wei Lun Foundation Limited, ‘The University is indebted to the Lee family and the Foundation for their generous and continued support. They have been staunch supporters of the University, helping to enhance our strength and competitiveness in teaching, research and public service. Their far-sighted vision not only allowed the Centre to come into existence, but has also benefited patients in need so that they can be diagnosed and treated promptly and properly with cutting edge technologies.’

Mr. Anthony Wu, Chairman of the Hospital Authority said, ‘Despite the development of new drugs and technologies, cardiovascular diseases remain the second leading cause of death in Hong Kong, taking away more than 5,000 lives each year. The fight against cardiovascular diseases entails high costs, advanced technology and meticulous skills. Despite these great challenges, the Hospital Authority is firmly committed to providing quality healthcare to patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases.’

Prof. Yu Cheuk-man, Director of the Centre, said that the Centre was the only one in Hong Kong performing renal sympathetic denervation in public setting, left atrial appendage (LAA) occluder and cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) implantation. It runs the largest percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and electrophysiology (EP) service in Hong Kong, including the largest volume of complex radiofrequency ablation and chronic total occlusion PCI, in particular retrograde approach recanalization. Integral to the Centre is a multi-disciplinary team which enables it to run a regular and the largest peripheral vascular intervention service. The PWH is one of the two public hospitals in Hong Kong performing transcatheter aortic-valve implantation (TAVI). Currently, the Centre performs more than 2,500 invasive cardiovascular procedures every year using the latest interventional technologies.

Looking forward, the Centre pledges to provide a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures with cutting edge technologies and dedicated cardiovascular experts.