In the face of the recurring waves of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, Hong Kong’s healthcare system had been under great pressure. In view of the pressing demand for negative pressure isolation wards, the HKSAR Government sought assistance from the Central Government in July 2020 for the construction of a temporary hospital in Chek Lap Kok on Lantau Island. The EMSD, as the E&M service provider for public hospitals and clinics, made the best efforts to proactively offer technical support in the design, installation, testing, operation and maintenance of the E&M system facilities in the temporary hospital, with a view to facilitating its smooth commissioning in February 2021.
The North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre (HKICC), is located adjacent to the AsiaWorld-Expo on Lantau Island. It is the only hospital in Hong Kong with all wards equipped with hospital-grade isolation facilities. The HKICC occupies a site area of about 30 000m2 and comprises six Ward Blocks, one Medical Block and one Energy Centre, providing a total of 816 isolation beds. With years of experience in the E&M systems in public hospitals, the EMSD proactively provided professional advice on the design and installation to enhance the reliability and maintainability of various E&M systems at the HKICC.
In order to identify the potential issues that may affect the operation and maintenance of the hospital in the future, the EMSD arranged an experienced testing and commissioning team which stationed at the site during the construction period. To tie in with the 24-hour operation of the construction team, our dedicated team also worked night and day to conduct testing and commissioning, with a view to enabling the concurrent completion of construction, testing and acceptance work.
After four months of concerted efforts and hard work by the whole project team, the HKICC was completed on 20 January 2021 and started admission of COVID-19 confirmed patients from 26 February 2021. The EMSD’s team will continue to provide round-the-clock technical support for the operation and maintenance of the HKICC, ensuring the smooth operation of its E&M system facilities.