HKUMed Proposes New Complex to Meet Faculty’s Growing Needs
HKUMed plans to build a new teaching and research complex to train the next generation of healthcare professionals and address the shortfall of doctors in the city.
The proposed development includes a new academic building that offers teaching and research facilities: clinical simulation teaching laboratories, clinical microbiology & pathology teaching laboratories, classrooms, lecture theatres, seminar and tutorial rooms, research laboratories, animal facilities, and a data centre.
It will also provide not less than 4,000m² of open space for public use including landscaped deck gardens, sitting areas, and amenities, on top of barrier-free pedestrian access connecting Victoria Road and Northcote Close to Pok Fu Lam Road. These facilities will benefit the general public, including residents in the neighbourhood, users of Queen Mary Hospital (QMH), and nearby school students.
Hong Kong’s rapidly ageing population makes the need to address the shortage of medical professionals an urgent issue. The city currently has a severe shortfall of doctors and other healthcare professionals, with forecasts suggesting a shortage of almost 2,000 doctors by 2040.
To address this issue, the HKSAR Government has increased the number of healthcare-related University Grants Committee-funded first-year-first-degree places by more than 150 starting from the 2019/2020 academic year. The number of medical school places will be increased by at least 60 every three years from the 2022/2023 academic year.
This increase means HKU is projected to admit 295 first-year-first-degree medical students in 2022, from 153 in 2002.
This welcome increase in student numbers, however, has exacerbated the existing shortage of teaching space at the Faculty of Medicine. The William M.W. Mong Block at 21 Sassoon Road was opened in 2001 and no further buildings have been allocated to medical teaching since that date.
The Faculty has rolled out short-term measures such as renovating lecture theatres to accommodate more students, but these are insufficient to meet rising enrolments.
Medium-term efforts to meet the growing student and staff populations have already begun through the conversion of office space to student learning areas.
And a new building at 3 Sassoon Road set to open in the third quarter of 2022 will cater to the growth of the School of Nursing where staff numbers have increased by more than 50 per cent over the past five years.
The facilities are designed to accommodate growing enrolments, with 210 first-year-first-degree Bachelor of Nursing (BNurs) students set to be admitted in 2022, up from 100 in 2002.
A properly equipped teaching and training environment is crucial to the success of Hong Kong’s next generation of healthcare professionals.
The proposed a new academic building, which will be built on a green belt site, is designed to provide the facilities for a growing student body. The complex will also house the “Good Manufacturing Practice” laboratory dedicated to stem cell research, which will develop provide life-saving treatments for patients.
HKU does not own a “land bank” with plots of land available for construction of new buildings and is significantly behind other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong in terms of space provision for infrastructure developments.
The site, which sits opposite Queen Mary Hospital on a slope below Pok Fu Lam Road, was chosen as the only feasible solution to address the Faculty’s needs after extensive consultation with various government bureaus and departments.
The proposed site was also selected for its proximity to existing teaching and research facilities on Sassoon Road, with plans for elevated walkways to connect the new buildings with the rest of the medical campus and QMH.
Because of the unique nature of the medical curriculum, it is crucial for clinical teaching staff that the new facilities are within reasonable walking distance from QMH so that they can attend to emergencies at the hospital.
The completed site will have a gross floor area of 40,840m² for laboratories and other teaching facilities.
With the expected loss of trees on the site, HKU is committed to providing a green environment by providing space for tree planting along Pok Fu Lam Road as well as on the building’s terraces as part of its design. This planting scheme will include native fruit trees for birds to feed on and the design will incorporate bird boxes for additional roosting sites.
On top of these planned features, the complex is designed to minimise the visual impact on the hillside.
