Beijing hospital's Macao branch starts trial operation

MACAO, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Macao Medical Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), an elite hospital in the Chinese mainland, started a trial operation on Wednesday, focusing on medical treatment of difficult and complicated diseases.

Covering a land area of 76,000 square meters, the Macao center has 26 operation rooms, and over 1,000 beds when fully completed, making it the largest medical facility in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

Ho Iat Seng, chief executive of the Macao SAR, said at the opening ceremony that the hospital marks a new chapter in Macao's medical development, which aims to become a first-class medical center based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with international influence and serve as a high-level platform for medical workers in Macao.

The Macao center project started in 2021 under collaboration between the Macao SAR government and the PUMCH, the first such medical cooperation between the Macao SAR and the mainland under "one country, two systems."

Starting in September 2024, the Macao hospital will gradually provide medical services to the public in areas such as medical imaging, medical cosmetology and specialized outpatient services, helping make up for Macao's gap in the treatment of difficult cases.

Wu Wenming, the head of the Macao center of PUMCH, said the center has introduced medical teams and management skills from PUMCH to provide more diversified medical services.

Lei Wai Seng, director of the preparatory office for the Macao center, said the hospital's recruitment priority is local medical workers while attracting experts from the PUMCH and other top hospitals in the mainland as well as from around the world.