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Wu Yihuan (4th R), Shenzhen vice mayor, Peter Mathieson (C), president of the University of Hong Kong, Luo Lexuan (3rd R), director of Shenzhen Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission and Lo Chung-mau (4th L), president of the University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital plant a tree at the hospital Saturday. Courtesy of the University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital

Lo Chung-mau

The cross-border medical cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong will consistently provide mutual benefits to both cities, according to Professor Lo Chung-mau, president of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH).

“The development of the health care system in Shenzhen can barely keep up with its rapidly growing economy,” Prof. Lo said, after attending the hospital’s flag-raising ceremony Saturday morning in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland and the hospital’s 5th anniversary.

“Our hospital is aimed at leading the reform of Shenzhen’s medical system by further strengthening cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong,” he said. “The University of Hong Kong has the gene for medical education and Shenzhen has the blood of innovation. HKU-SZH is the combination of both sides’ remarkable inheritances.”

According to Prof. Lo, the hospital has made a range of groundbreaking moves to enhance its medical services over the past five years.

HKU-SZH is the only hospital in Shenzhen that hasn’t provided intravenous drips for its outpatients since the first day of its operation. Since April last year, many hospitals in the city have followed suit and stopped offering intravenous drips in their outpatient departments.

“Over 10 billion infusion bottles are consumed in China each year, which is a huge waste of economic and environmental resources,” he said, adding that the cancellation of intravenous drips in the outpatient department also saves patients from unnecessary treatment and extra medical bills.

The hospital’s fixed-payment system for calculating medical bills is another way to discourage excessive treatment, because a patient’s medical costs won’t be calculated based on the amount of medicine he is prescribed or the number of tests he undergoes. It’s a way to reduce the waste of medical resources to cut costs for the hospital, Prof. Lo said.

According to Prof. Lo, the establishment of HKU-SZH benefits Hong Kong’s medical development as well, because the hospital — with a large number of clinical cases — provides medical students from the University of Hong Kong a good opportunity to get on-site training. Over 1,200 medical undergraduates from the university had received training at the hospital by the end of 2016.

Additionally, the hospital allows Hong Kong senior citizens living in Shenzhen to use medical coupons issued by the Hong Kong government. It has also partnered with the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association in Hong Kong to provide 24-hour emergency treatment for elderly Hong Kong patients in Shenzhen.

Prof. Lo said the key to promoting a city’s medical development is the cultivation of professional medical personnel. He said the city government has showed an interest in jointly building a medical school in Shenzhen in cooperation with the University of Hong Kong in the coming five years.

Currently, Prof. Lo is also a chair professor at the University of Hong Kong and director of the liver transplant center at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. He has to travel between the two cities four to five days a week in order to work at the Shenzhen hospital. “As a doctor, I gain a sense of fulfillment when I can help more people. It’s worth overcoming all of the difficulties to do my job,” he added.

The hospital has served 4 million outpatients over the past five years. It has employed 100 Hong Kong and overseas medical experts, with nearly 50 of them having to commute across the border every week.