facilities for everyone to succeed,’ Professor Chan said. This new building provides fit-for-purpose facilities for the Schools of Nursing and Chinese Medicine, including provisions for new learning technologies and research. The next big project will be the Clinical Training and Amenities Centre (CTAC), expected to start construction across from HKUMed Academic Building in 2025, that will provide much needed residential space and other support for medical students during the clinical years. ‘Medical students require continuous exposure to the hospital ward environment so they can acquire clinical skills and patient contact experience. So, staying close to the teaching hospital will bring immense benefits to senior medical students,’ Professor Chan explained. Currently, the Faculty has fewer than 200 residential beds near Queen Mary Hospital, not enough to accommodate even one cohort of students, whose numbers are now 295 and expected to grow. The CTAC will address that shortfall in two phases. The first will accommodate 440 students, and will comprise a student wellness centre and a clinical training centre where they can brush up on their skills. The second phase, targeted to start construction around 2027, will provide 252 bed spaces. Another major development making progress is a new academic superstructure to be built adjacent to HKUMed Academic Building. This received Town Planning Board approval last year and will house teaching, research and office facilities for the Schools of Clinical Medicine and Public Health. ‘We want to plan our space to create synergy among colleagues of cognate research interests, and to accommodate much needed facilities such as cell therapy facilities, core ←In addition to new infrastructure, existing facilities on Sassoon Road will be refurbished in stages to meet both urgent and long-term needs of training and research. research facilities and a stateof-the-art imaging facility. We are now engaging colleagues to solicit their input on what they expect to need in several years’ time,’ Professor Chan added. Construction is targeted to start around 2025-26. Off-campus, Grantham Hospital’s redevelopment is in good progress and will also provide a university block for HKU scholars to pursue clinical research. Professor Chan said existing buildings will be freed up for possible refurbishment once the new academic block is built, such as refurbishing the Laboratory Block and redeveloping the Patrick Manson Building. The aim for the latter would be to create a new building for integrated Western and Chinese medicine. Preliminary studies are underway for both projects. Professor Chan added that while all these developments promise an exciting future, there is the meantime to attend to. HKUMed has received funding support from the government to refurbish the Estates Building and Pauline Chan Building, as well as for Phase II major remodelling of the William MW Mong Block, all on Sassoon Road. The goal is to meet urgent needs, but with an eye to the future. ‘We want to ensure our colleagues and new recruits have more laboratories and offices but also facilities like Medical Robotics Laboratory,’ he said. ‘We are in a major period of growth across all areas of the Faculty and we are hoping within the next few years to have the infrastructure and facilities for everyone to succeed.’ Professor Chan Ying-sing 17 HKUMed News Summer 2024
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