Acupuncture with MRI: HK opens its first TCM hospital

When Ms Chan Yuet Ping visited Hong Kong’s first traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospital days after its recent opening, she was expecting to receive just acupuncture to treat her lower back pain.

- Magdalene Fung Hong Kong Correspondent

A researcher working with a specimen at the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute in Hong Kong. The Institute to facilitate research into Chinese medicine features a 700 sq m herbal garden with some 180 species of medicinal plants. A day ward in the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong. The facility is part of China's extensive plan to promote traditional Chinese medicine.

(ST PHOTOS: MAGDALENE FUNG)

Little did she know that the physician would prescribe physiotherapy as well.

“The whole session took roughly an hour - first acupuncture, then physiotherapy, where I was guided to do exercises like cycling on the machines at the hospital,” the 70-year-old retired customer services worker told The Straits Times.

“I've returned for several follow up sessions since. The combination of treatments I've received so far has really helped improve my condition a lot.”

Ms Chan’s experience — a combination of both Chinese and Western medical treatments — is a key selling point of the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (CMHHK), which opened on Dec 11, 2025.

The public hospital in Tseung Kwan O - the first of its kind in Hong Kong - offers healthcare services that are integrated with Western medical practices, but use TCM as their primary approach.

The 42,900 sq m government-funded facility is part of China’s extensive plan to promote the use and development of TCM. And Singapore is among the countries looking to learn from Hong Kong’s experience in integrating TCM into its own public healthcare system.

At first glance, CMHHK’s reception, clinics and wards look little different from a typical Western medicine-led hospital, with healthcare professionals in white coats and nursing scrubs going purposefully about their tasks.