CUHK Medical Centre cuts prices for 1,011 service items to attract patients

The debt-ridden Chinese University of Hong Kong Medical Centre (CUHKMC) cut the prices of more than 1,000 service items, or around one-fifth of those available, this month to help attract more patients.

The private hospital said on Monday that the price cuts ranged from 2 per cent to “double digits”, but declined to reveal the full percentage range, instead noting the move covered highly used services such as urology, ophthalmology, endoscopy, radiology and pathology.

The move is part of the first phase of the hospital’s service assessment.

“We at CUHKMC hope to be a business with conscience when it comes to pricing, and so everyone can trust us,” said Dr Chung Kin-lai, who took over as the hospital’s CEO in August.

Chung said he had received negative reviews that called the hospital’s prices very expensive and unreasonable, while some also complained of “surprise bills”.

He said that prices should be reasonable and transparent, given that most of its funding came from government loans, the university and donations from the Hong Kong Jockey Club.