New Hospital Authority chief Henry Fan must learn about frontline operations, Hong Kong medical experts say
- Former executive councillor will be third authority chairman with no health care experience
- Some board members welcome appointment, but medical professions say he must learn quickly about ‘operational loopholes’
The incoming chairman of the Hospital Authority needs to quickly learn how frontline operations work in Hong Kong’s overstretched public hospitals, local medical professionals have said.
The appointment of Henry Fan Hung-ling, a former executive councillor and businessman, was officially announced on Thursday, with the authority applauding his ““wealth of experience and professional knowledge in corporate management”.
Fan, 71, begins his tenure as chairman of the 29-member governing board on December 1. He is the older brother of executive councillor Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun and is a member of the chief executive’s Council of Advisers on Innovation and Strategic Development.
Fan also sits on the boards of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and the Financial Services Development Council.
Succeeding orthopaedist John Leong Chi-yan, Fan will be the third authority chairman who has no previous health care experience. The others were Anthony Wu Ting-yuk, a veteran accountant, and Peter Woo Kwong-ching, a billionaire developer and entrepreneur.
