Conducting Testing and Repurposing Work against the Clock to Facilitate the Launch of Various Services of the Emergency Hospital

The Central Government handed the Central Government-aided Emergency Hospital (Emergency Hospital) located in the Lok Ma Chau Loop over to the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for operation and management at the end of 2022. Subsequently, the EMSD had a technical handover on 4 and 5 January 2023. Later on 13 January 2023, the Health Bureau (HHB) signed a five-year Service Level Agreement with the Electrical and Mechanical Services Trading Fund to engage it to provide maintenance services for the E&M facilities and medical equipment of the Emergency Hospital.

To facilitate the urgent commissioning of the Emergency Hospital, the EMSD promptly deployed staff with diverse skills to test the E&M systems and facilities of the hospital. By the end of March 2023, the EMSD had completed the essential phase-one testing and commissioning, including safety tests of power systems, adjustments to negative pressure systems, emergency power generators and changeover tests, as well as relevant work on fire equipment, water supply facilities, emergency call and broadcast systems, etc. Despite the tight schedule, the EMSD strived together to overcome the challenges and took care of every minute detail in a meticulous manner. Ultimately, we finished all the tasks on time, enabling the Emergency Hospital to commence operation as scheduled on 25 April 2023 and launch the Ambulatory Diagnostic Radiology Service Pilot Programme as its phase-one operation on the same day. This initiative alleviated the pressure on public hospitals while benefiting more patients.

Upon commissioning of the Emergency Hospital, the EMSD assisted in taking forward its phase-two service programme by repurposing the ventilation systems of the endoscope and equipment sterilisation rooms, repairing and adjusting negative pressure systems, installing and altering power supply facilities and sockets, as well as installing standalone automatic door systems, emergency lighting systems and other E&M equipment. Eventually, we finished the various repurposing and adjustment work of the microbiology laboratory and sleep test centre, enabling the successful launch of the microbiology laboratory testing service on 3 October 2023 and the endoscopy service and sleep test service on 31 October 2023. Thanks to the highly efficient and competent EMSD team, who demonstrated a professional service spirit and co-operated sincerely with relevant parties, this project was successfully completed within a short period of time.