The implications of the corporatization of health care delivery in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority has been formally established with the enactment of the Hospital Authority Ordinance on July 25, 1990. This statutory corporation will soon take over the management and control of all public hospitals, which house approximately 90 per cent of the territory\u27s hospital beds. Government hospitals have hitherto been managed and ginanced directly by a government department -- the Hospital Services Department (previously called the Medical & Health Department). Subvented hospitals have in theory been owned by voluntary organizations, but in practice they have been heavily subsidized and tightly controlled by the government. While many have expressed concern over the transfer arrangements for staff, and the possible increase in hospital charges under the Hospital Authority, little has been written on the longer term impact of this transfer of ownership and responsibility from a central government department to a public corporation. This article attempts to evaluate this devolution in terms of its long-range impact on the health care industry, and in particular, on the level of health care expenditure, and on the public/private sector mix in health care financing. It will also suggest measures to protect the wider public interest after the devolution..