Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

Established in 1870, the Tung Wah Hospital (the group’s pioneering operation) is widely recognized as the first hospital in China having adopted western hospital mode in providing Chinese medicine services. Later, Tung Wah Hospital gradually replaced the Man Mo Temple’s leading role to arbitrate in disputes in the local community.

In 1880, the hospital established free schools, which eventually adopted modern teaching methods in the 1920s and 1930s, was recognized as one of the leading organizations that provided education for children in poverty. TWGHs had essentially transcended the limitations embedded in traditional social practices such as indigenous norms, ancestral roots, dialects etc., and had developed organizational features of a charitable body unique to the colonially ruled territory.

In addition, the Tung Wah Coffin Home had since the 19th century been delivering a distinctive welfare service in Hong Kong – bone repatriation services for Chinese abroad, which signifies the reputation that TWGHs had enjoyed worldwide. From all these, we can see that the development of the Group play an important role in the development of Hong Kong’s medical, education and community services.

Since its establishment in 1870, TWGHs has been all along upholding its mission “To heal the sick and to relieve the distressed; to care for the elderly and to rehabilitate the disabled; to promote education and to nurture youngsters; and to raise the infants and to guide the children.” Nowadays, TWGHs is the largest charitable organisation with the longest history in Hong Kong. For one and a half centuries, TWGHs has persistently pioneered and marked significant milestones in medical and health, education and community services, to fulfill the needs of the society and to provide the public with high quality services at low rates or for free. Today, TWGHs operates 343 services units, including 5 hospitals and 34 Chinese and Western medicine services units, 57 education services units, 225 community services units that cover elderly, youth and family, rehabilitation, social enterprises and social innovation services. The Tung Wah Museum and TWGHs Maisy Ho Archives and Relics Centre, which were established to promote, restore and preserve the heritage and relics of TWGHs, with an aim to protect and preserve local traditional culture. In addition, TWGHs has provided 2 aspects of traditional services through 20 service units, including funeral, temple and ritualistic, as well as coffin home services, fulfilling the aspirations of worshippers and the needs of the local community on funeral and burial services as well as the related facilities, while promoting traditional customs and preserving local culture at the same time.