Ruttonjee Hospital is a district general hospital in

Wan Chai Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. It is affiliated with the

Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine (branded as HKUMed) is the medical school of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), a public research university. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, ...

, at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

, and provides clinical attachment opportunities for the university's medical students.

History

Centrally located in Wan Chai, the Ruttonjee Hospital is a recently redeveloped hospital with a history that goes back more than 140 years. It was founded on the Mount Shadwell, Wan Chai site which was formerly occupied by the "

Royal Naval Hospital A Royal Naval Hospital (RNH) was a hospital operated by the British Royal Navy for the care and treatment of sick and injured naval personnel. A network of these establishments were situated across the globe to suit British interests. They were p ...

", which was severely damaged during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.The Royal Naval Hospital, Hong Kong
private website citing Harland, Kathleen, ''The Royal Navy in Hong Kong since 1841'', Maritime Books, Liskeard, Cornwall, undated; and Melson, Commodore P.J., (ed.), ''White ensign – red dragon'', Edinburgh Financial Publishing, Hong Kong, 1997 In 1949, the "Ruttonjee Sanatorium" () was set up with the support of Mr Jehangir Hormusjee Ruttonjee in memory of his daughter, Tehmi Ruttonjee-Desai, who died of tuberculosis in 1943. It was one of the main institutions specifically treating

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in Hong Kong. Development and expansion of the hospital was overseen by Sister Dr Mary Aquinas Monaghan, a missionary nun from Ireland. It was converted into the "Ruttonjee Hospital", a 600-bed general hospital, in 1991 not only because the number of patients with tuberculosis had decreased, but also because patients are increasingly treated by out-patient

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

. The hospital now provides a wide range of services to meet the requirements of the community. Since reconstruction, the hospital has become an acute general hospital with general medical and surgical specialities. It does not, however, provide paediatric, obstetric or gynaecological cover. Its surgical department enjoys high acclaim as the Ruttonjee is the only hospital in Hong Kong to provide gender-reassignment operations. The geriatrics service has also developed in recent years in response to the ageing population of the Wan Chai district. Gatepost stone royal naval hospital hong kong

Gatepost stone royal naval hospital hong kong

Services

*24 hour Emergency Department *Anaesthesia *Cardiac and Intensive Care Unit *Radiology *Geriatrics *Infirmary and Rehabilitation Medicine *Orthopaedics and Traumatology *Palliative Care *Pathology *Respiratory Medicine *Surgery

Others

*Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programme *Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care *Combined Endoscopy Unit *Community Geriatric Assessment *Electro-medical Diagnostic Unit *Geriatric Day Hospital *Health Resource Centre *Special Accommodation Ward *Specialist Out-patient Department *Volunteer Service

Controversy

On 31 March 2010, the Hong Kong High Court approved a settlement in the legal action brought by British author

Martin Jacques Martin Jacques (born 1945) is a British journalist, editor, academic, political commentator and author. Early life and education Jacques was born in October 1945 in the city of Coventry, then in Warwickshire, now in the West Midlands, th ...

over the death of his wife Harinder Veriah. She was hospitalised in Ruttonjee Hospital after an

epileptic seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

on 1 January 2000 and died the following evening. The case seemed to expose

racial prejudice Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race or ethnicity over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination ...

and

medical negligence Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. The negligen ...

by doctors and staff.

References

External links