Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital 2.21

The Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital is located at No. 36A Western Street, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1922 under the Chinese Public Dispensary Committee. After the war, Tsan Yuk Hospital has moved to Hospital Road and the site has become a multi-purpose community centre called Western District Community Centre.Three-storeys high and 1,100 m2 in area, the British-colonial-style building comprises a three-storey hospital block with a basement, a two-storey staff quarters with annex and a one-storey servant quarters, all of which have now been converted into offices and function rooms for the community centre.HistoryTsan Yuk Hospital was originally located at the cross-section of Western Street and Third Street in Hong Kong's Sai Ying Pun district. The land on which the hospital was built was donated by the government and the $94,000 construction fee was donated by Mr. H. M. H Nemazee, Sai Ying Pun Kai Fong Committee of the Fishmongers' Guild and Fruit and Vegetable Sellers' Guild. The thirty beds were donated by Tung Wah Hospital, another government hospital located in neighbouring Sheung Wan.The hospital was opened by the English missionary group London Missionary Society on the 17 October 1922. It was originally opened as a maternity hospital, with the intention to meet society's increasing demand for neonatal services, including the training of midwives and obstetricians. The London Missionary Society recruited the first foreign female doctor in Hong Kong, Dr. Alice D. Hickling, and appointed her as the director of Tsan Yuk. In her development of obstetric services, she quickly recognized the abundance of women eager to become professional midwives in Hong Kong, and had the notion to provide such training through the hospital. She suggested this to Dr. S.W. Tso, Chairman of the Chinese Public Dispensary Committee, and he supported her proposal. Thus forward, Tsan Yuk became one of Hong Kong's foremost maternity teaching hospitals.