some families choose to go down the
private route, with and without health
insurance.
For Faith Jasmin Sim, a mother of
two, it’s the rapport that her family has
built up with her private doctor that has
kept them going back. “Sometimes
we’ve had outpatients’ insurance with
my husband’s work and sometimes we
haven’t. Either way, I’ve been taking
my family to see our family doctor
at Quality HealthCare in Tsing Yi for
over six years. He’s very calm and
reassuring and a consultation only
costs around $320,” she advises.
Like Charlotte, Alyssa considers
her family’s health issues before
choosing the private or public route.
“Recently, my eldest daughter couldn’t
stop vomiting. I took her to our private
doctor in Taikoo Place, where I knew
she’d be more comfortable and where
we wouldn’t end up having to wait for
hours. Language isn’t an issue and our
doctor knows my daughter’s medical
history. In my mind, that’s $300 well
spent,” she says.
Private care doesn’t always have to
cost the earth. Dotted around Hong
Kong are a number of clinics and
If you choose the
public route, you could
go through pregnancy,
labour, mother and child
check ups, and
vaccinations, all for
around $600 to $800
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lauded hospitals that charge $400 or
less for a consultation with a doctor
who you know, trust and can establish
a long-term relationship with.
For example, the world-renowned
Matilda International Hospital perched
atop the Peak recently opened a
Matilda Clinic in the heart of the
Midlevels. There, you only need to fork
out $380 for a consultation.
Also new on the scene is the
Gleneagles Hospital in Wong Chuk
Hang, which prides itself on its trans-
parent pricing system. A consultation
there costs only $320. Meanwhile Hong
Kong’s first-ever private hospital, Hong
Kong Baptist Hospital in Kowloon,
charges $230.
The ever-popular Hong Kong
Adventist Hospital and the Hong Kong
Sanatorium and Hospital in Happy
Valley both charge $400 and at the
Canossa Hospital in the Midlevels, the
fee is only $300.
For cheap and cheerful dentists,
Caroline Law, a mother of two, recom-
mends the Caritas Dental Clinic. “I pay
$60 for a consultation and if we need an
X-ray, the cost is $80. It’s a no-frills set-up
but the staff are nice, and the service
quick and thorough,” says Caroline, who
visits the Caine Road branch.
The fees outlined above do
not cover medication and further
treatment. So, while patients or
caregivers may be comfortable with
dishing out a few hundred dollars
to see a private doctor, unexpected
circumstances and the associated
costs may be a bitter pill to swallow.