Ruttonjee Hospital



Ruttonjee Hospital (Chinese: 律敦治醫院) is a hospital in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is affliated with the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Hong Kong, 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 occupied by the "Royal Naval Hospital", which was severely damaged during the Second World War.

In 1949, the "Ruttonjee Sanatorium" (律敦治療養院) 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 in Hong Kong.

It was converted into the "Ruttonjee Hospital", a 600-bed general hospital, in 1991 not only because the number of patients suffering from tuberculosis had decreased, but also because patients are increasingly treated by out-patient chemotherapy. 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 sex-change operations. The geriatrics service has also developed in recent years in response to the aging population of the Wan Chai district.