CUHK Medical Centre to repay HK$4bn govt loan early

A private hospital run by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has said it will fully pay back a government loan of more than HK$4 billion ahead of schedule, though authorities said they never made such a repayment request. The CUHK Medical Centre (CUHKMC) in Sha Tin had suffered losses and sought extensions to its repayment plan twice, but the hospital says its financials have since improved. "As the hospital's been implementing various measures to boost operations, and cost management and control, its financial situation has gradually stabilised," CUHKMC said in a statement published on Monday. The university plans to provide loans or bank loan guarantees to the hospital to support the repayment of the HK$4.033 billion government loan by March of next year. In a statement, a government spokesperson said authorities never asked the hospital to settle the loan early. "The proposal for early repayment was initiated jointly by the CUHK and the CUHKMC to the government. Having taken into account various considerations, the government has agreed to the proposal in principle," the statement said. Legco's Panel on Health Services will discuss the repayment proposal on May 8. Edited by Altis Wong