Contracts have been awarded through open tender to run district health centres (DHCs) in Sham Shui Po and Wong Tai Sin, the Food & Health Bureau announced today.

St James' Settlement was awarded the contract to run the DHC in Sham Shui Po while Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council was awarded the contract to run the DHC in Wong Tai Sin. The sum of the contracts is $311.54 million and $307.82 million.

Both operators have been given a gearing-up period of up to 10 months in preparation for a three-year operation of the DHCs.

The DHC in Sham Shui Po will be located at the Shek Kip Mei Estate Redevelopment Phase 6 and the DHC in Wong Tai Sin will be at the Diamond Hill Public Housing Estates Phase 1.

The DHCs’ Core Centres will each have about 1,000 sq m of net operating floor area, providing healthcare services including health promotion, health assessment, chronic disease management and community rehabilitation.

The operators will be required to set up satellite centres in different sub-districts of the two districts within 12 months of operation. The core and satellite centres will be open 10 hours a day and six days a week.

In addition to a core team, the operators must develop a multi-disciplinary network of medical and healthcare practitioners within or next to the service district to provide medical, healthcare and health assessment services to DHC members outside DHC centres upon referral.

The DHCs are also responsible for co-ordination with community partners which provide healthcare and social welfare services in the district and making referrals as necessary.

With the establishment of the first DHC in Kwai Tsing in September 2019, the Government will gradually set up DHCs in other districts to provide primary healthcare services to the public.