Kai Tak Hospital commences services in phases starting tomorrow

Kai Tak Hospital will commence services in phases starting tomorrow, with its initial phase offering a general outpatient clinic quota.

This as Queen Elizabeth Hospital's medical services will be gradually transferred to its newer counterpart -- marking the largest hospital relocation scheme in the city's history.

Residents will be able to make use of Kai Tak Hospital's Tower 4 starting tomorrow -- the first out of five buildings in the new facility.

Consisting of 235 consultation rooms, the building's capacity surpassed that of Queen Elizabeth Hospital by more than 70 percent, and is expected to serve some 1.4 million patients annually.

Notable upgrades could be seen in various facilities within the building, such as blood samples now being sent directly to the pathology department.

The process is completed in just five minutes, or around 40 percent faster than before.

The pharmacy and outpatient departments will jointly implement a pharmacy automation system which aims to dispense medicine within a period of 30 minutes on average.

With its family medicine integrated centre set to open on Monday, the hospital noted its daily outpatient quota of 350 has already been filled up on its first day.

Its specialist clinic and blood drawing services will be available starting at the latter half of this month, with Queen Elizabeth Hospital's surgery and clinical oncology departments set to be transferred to Kai Tak Hospital on the 26th of this month.

Regarding transport to the hospital, residents can reach the facility via 10 bus and 6 minibus routes travelling pass areas such as Mei Foo, Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin and Ho Man Tin.

Those planning to reach Kai Tak Hospital from the Kowloon Bay and Kai Tak MTR Stations can switch to the minibus option and head to the first floor of Tower 4 for outpatient services.

Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority said its staff will contact patients who require follow-up appointments at the new facility one-by-one.

It added that hospital personnel will still check up on such patients if they accidentally went to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, stressing there will always be doctors on standby.