To meet the increasing service demand of the New Territories East Cluster and the need of future medical development, the Prince of Wales Hospital is actively planning the Phase II Redevelopment which is to be divided into two stages and the first stage is expected to complete in 2028. Based on the Clinical Services Plan for the New Territories East Cluster, a Concept Plan for the redevelopment of PWH has been developed, which aims to position the hospital as a major acute hospital and a hub for the NTEC academic health sciences network. Under the Plan, PWH will adopt a patient-oriented design, with well aligned and integrated services, as well as better accessibility to facilitate the provision of more efficient medical care to meet the long-term needs of the population.
The future Prince of Wales Hospital after the completion of Phase II Redevelopment (Simulation model)
The Prince of Wales Hospital provides a comprehensive range of secondary and tertiary services for the residents in the cluster as well as highly specialized quaternary services for patients from other Hospital Authority clusters. It is also the teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The hospital was designed and built in the 1970’s and opened for use in 1984, which was more than 30 years ago. Throughout all these years, the population of Shatin has significantly grown and aged progressively. To meet the ever increasing service demand, the Hospital Authority obtained funding approval from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council to carry out PWH Phase I Redevelopment (i.e. the Main Clinical Block and Trauma Centre) in 2006. The project was completed in 2010.
According to the Planning Department, the population in Shatin will increase to more than 720,000 in 2024 and the elderly population will increase by 66% from 2015.
Yet the population of Shatin will continue to grow at a rate of 8% from 664,700 in 2015 to 721,100 in 2024, according to the projection of the Planning Department. The population of elderly aged 65 or above will also increase from 92,700 in 2015 to 154,200 in 2024, at a rate of about 66%. On the other hand, despite the opening of the Main Clinical Block and Trauma Centre, many related clinical services are still scattered in various old hospital blocks. The aging facilities, lack of capacity and outdated design of these old buildings cannot meet the demands of latest clinical service planning, teaching, research as well as future development needs.
The Hospital Authority launched the “10-Year Hospital Development Plan” in 2016 and the Prince of Wales Hospital Phase II Redevelopment (Stage 1) has been included under the plan. The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved the funding for the project commissioning work in July 2017. The project will start with the demolition of the quarters complex to make room for the construction of the new In-patient Extension Block, which is expected to bring in 450 additional beds and 16 operating theatres. The planning for Stage 2 will commence in due course having regard to the scheduled completion of Stage 1.
The Phase II Redevelopment will provide additional space to meet operational needs and service development, and promote integrated research, teaching and education. Link bridges and service tunnels will also be constructed to connect various hospital buildings for easy access by staff, patients and the public. PWH will remain functional at all times and any disruption of services, if unavoidable, will be kept to a minimum.
Buildings to be demolished (Aerial view of PWH taken in 2015)