The SAR's first traditional Chinese medicine hospital will start operating in phases from December 11 at prices for services benchmarked, its operator says, to those in the private market.

The inchoate hospital said it would provide both subsidised and market-oriented pricing schemes and that patients could opt for services according to their needs.

Eligible residents can see a Chinese medicine practitioner at fees starting from HK$180. Those receiving social assistance may have their medical fees waived.

Those not eligible for subsidised services will have to pay market-oriented fee levels of between HK$450 and HK$790, depending on the level of the practitioner they opted for.

These prices for services, which are discounted in the first year of operations, will rise to between HK$560 to HK$980 when the hospital enters its second year.

Cheung Wai-lun, project director of the Chinese Medicine Hospital Project Office at the Health Bureau, said affordability had been taken into consideration in the setting of prices.

"When we compare subsidised services with the private market, the price level setting is actually quite affordable," he said.

"But for market-oriented services, since there is a role for a so-called change driver, it means that [the hospital] has to be [in line] with the private market, so the market price will be more or less referenced from the present market."

Outpatient and day ward services will be available in the first year of operations.

The hospital will start taking in patients overnight from its second year, offering 25 beds, 16 of which will be subsidised by the government.

A total of 400 beds will be available by the end of 2030, and the hospital expects to serve 400,000 outpatients each year.

Around 12 out of 23 specialist services will be provided from December, with the rest to be supplied within five years.