More mainland health professionals slated to counter staff shortage

China’s healthcare department is willing to offer a helping hand to the Macau government, after it requested medical human resources from the mainland authorities to cope with the city’s surging demand for specialized medical professionals. Some of the physicians to be recruited would serve at the city’s second public hospital, whose construction is facing possible delays due to revisions made to the architectural blueprint.
After the opening ceremony of the second health center in Taipa yesterday morning, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, who officiated at the event, disclosed to the media that during his stay in Geneva for the 68th edition of the World Health Assembly last week, he had spoken with Li Bin, a Minister and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission. They discussed the manpower shortage crippling the local public medical service, with Tam reporting that the national healthcare department had welcomed the government’s request for medical professionals and would provide full support accordingly.
“As you all know, in the coming few years, there will be another new hospital. By the time it’s constructed, and considering the city’s aging and dense population, under the circumstances, locals or visitors might have certain demands. We don’t have sufficient numbers of physicians that are trained in certain fields. For the time being, training also takes some time,” said Tam. “Their response was so positive, and they immediately promised to offer us assistance.”
Fanny Ho, Deputy Director of the Health Bureau, who also attended the hour-
long media interview session, told journalists that the government expected a total of 24 new migrant professionals to serve the city at the public hospital this year, half of whom are already in town or else are prepared for arrival. Among them, five are said to be from Portugal and one is from the United States.
Professionals specializing in vascular surgery, chest surgery, oncology and gynecology were direly needed, according to the newly appointed hospital head, Kuok Cheong U, who claimed that the request to the mainland for manpower was meant to fill these shortages.
Responding to the media’s question concerning progress of the second public hospital’s construction, the Health Bureau head Lei Chin Ion ascribed the possible delay to “advice [received last year] from overseas consultants” on the island hospital construction. Much of the planned readjustment stated in the bureau’s press release, which was issued two days ago, is meant to allow for further development in the forthcoming 30 years, according to the bureau head, who claimed that the revised design plan might hopefully come in August, together with an increased budget. Staff reporter

Tam keeps full smoking ban stance

Alexis Tam brushed aside the survey by a junket association showing overwhelming support for introducing smoking rooms into casinos, asserting that employees’ livelihood was more important than gaming revenue, despite the continual nosedive observed for the eleventh month. In addition, Tam was upbeat about the government’s policies to lure in more non-smoking visitors and believed that a full smoking-ban would not do much harm to the already plummeting gaming earnings.