Kwong Wah Hospital announced it will open its new 24-hour Accident and Emergency department from 7:30am on Wednesday, following the completion of the first phase of its redevelopment project.

The Yau Ma Tei hospital said the 6,400-square-metre emergency ward, located in a new complex on Pitt Street, is more than two-and-a-half times the size of the current one.

The hospital’s chief executive, Tang Kam-shing, said it’s hoped the new facility, which is equipped with CT scanners and features an infection control quarantine area and a ward with 40 beds, will shorten the waiting time for those seeking urgent care.

“Previously these patients have to wait for in-patient beds, and we have to wait for patients to be discharged in the in-patient wards before they can be admitted into the wards,” Tang said.

“But right now, we have the 40 beds in the emergency medical ward… patients that need urgent service can be followed-up in the respective specialties and be admitted to these beds as soon as they are available. [They can] get the necessary emergency treatment and consultations and be discharged as soon as possible.”

Chan Tung-ning, who manages the hospital’s A&E department, said new electronic systems will be in place to store key information such as patients’ medical and drug history.

“When patients need urgent medication, we can get the medication from the smart drug cabinet right away, without compromising the medication safety,” he said.