costs of private hospital stay in HK

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babyblue#1

Registered User
Hi guys..

I'm 3 months pregnant and I was told that it's time to start booking bed for delivery since they get booked out very quickly... is it true?
I was looking at Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital and they have a package for 3 days 2 nights stay price depends on what kind of room i want to get. But when I looked up closely i realised a lot of things are not included in the price and total up could cost up to 40k for a local. Is other private hospitals the same?
And has anyone have any recommendation? I would prefer private hospital since I had very bad experience with publics...
 
other hospitals are often more! all inc, a stay at matilda or many of hte other private hospitals could easily cost you over $100K!

ps> private hospitals don't care if you are "local" or not, that only applies to public hospitals where the gov't covers much of the cost.
 
BabyBlue#1

I delivered at the Matilda on what is probably the cheapest package - Ward Room 4 days/3 nights - $63 000.
It was a fantastic experience and would recommend it if you could afford it. It's like being in a 5*hotel!
You get a lot of personal attention from the midwives, lactation consultants and even the amahs! They all made time for my needs during my stay. Every penny was well spent!

I did budget for $150000 as that would have been the cost for a natural birth - no complications for a first class ward at the Matilda. I didn't have to worry about a birth with complications as my insurance would cover all costs of such a birth.

Good Luck! I'm sure the public sector does a great job too - especially given the price tag. I've heard both good and bad experiences.
 
If you are three months pregnant already, you should hussle and get yourself a booking if you want to be at a private hospital. Lots of private hospitals fill up really early - I booked my room at the HK Sanitorium when I was 8 weeks pregnant and paid my deposit at 12 weeks.
 
Just to add, when you get a quote from a private hospital for a maternity package, all they are quoting you for is the use of the facilities, midwifery and nursing. They are NOT including the costs of the Obstetrician to attend the delivery, paediatrician or anaethetist, who are all independent of the hospital. Obs fees depend on the individual Ob and the room class (they charge more if you take a private room than a 4 bed room- can range from $20k-$50k). Anaethetist is around $12,000 for an epidural. Paediatrician fees (attend delivery and daily checks during your stay plus the initial tests and vaccs) can be around $10,000. Therefore it can all add up very quickly.

If you go public, it costs about $300 but you cant then choose your Obs. You just get who is there on the day. The other downsides to the public system are short visiting hours, restrictions on when your birth partner can be with you (varies by hospital) and less support on things like breastfeeding. However, you have to weigh this up against the cost, and if I didnt have insurance , I think I'd be off to QM like a shot.
 
LOJITT said:
.....Anaethetist is around $12,000 for an epidural. Paediatrician fees (attend delivery and daily checks during your stay plus the initial tests and vaccs) can be around $10,000. ....
Click to expand...

Something that most people never talk about but it goes on all the time is the art of bargaining. Maybe some people feel shy about it and are reluctant but it does happen and can give you great savings.

I have not heard of anyone being able to bargain down the hospital rates, but when it comes to doctors and their charges feel free to negotiate. We did it :-)
Epidural : Initial quote for us (8 years ago) was $8500. We negotiated down to $5,500.
Padiatrician : Initial quote for us was $7000. We negotiated down to $4000.

Dont be shy; if you dont ask you wont get anything.

HC
 
howard- good info, but believe me, by the time i decided i needed an epi, i was in no position to bargain - lol
 
TheQuasimother said:
BabyBlue#1
Good Luck! I'm sure the public sector does a great job too - especially given the price tag. I've heard both good and bad experiences.
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Quasimother, what are the bad experiences you've heard of? It is just bedside manner and such things isn't it rather than quality of medical care?

I'm starting to get a little nervous about my due date - I'm having a planned c-section and starting to worry about just getting whichever doctor is there on the day doing the operation. I'm worried about a junior doctor doing it, in particular, as those are the doctors I have had most experience with at check-ups so far, and they don't really inspire confidence...
 
have you looked into Canossa? i recall there rates for packages were the most reasonable, but the number of maternity beds is also the lowest so you would need to book soon...do you have a fixed OBGYN that will deliver for you? if so, you can just push the nurses to get the room for you, they are more effective than the patient cause of their (your doctors) connections.
 
Thanks guys for the info.. the main reason I'm so concerned's because I don't have insurance and public hospital is a big no to me.. ( havent had any experience with HK publics but the publics in Australia and Macau turned me off real bad)
I'm just very surprised that I have to start booking myself in asap for a space, and that panicked me a little. But I have finally decided which hospital I should go... and I do really hope that it wont cost me a fortune for a birth!
 
how can you possibly compare public hospitals in australia to those in hk? especially since you have no experience of the hospitals in hk???

i've had two children through the public system. although there were no luxuries at all and a few small issues with some of the staff, at the end of the day, i have 2 happy, healthy children (the MOST important thing to me) that came out of two EXTREMELY complicated pregnancies.

the other thing to think about: NONE of the private hospitals are set up to deal with any serious complications for the baby. if something goes wrong? they'll send the baby to Queen Mary Hospital ( a public hospital).
 
Licquorice,

I had a c-section in the Prince of Wales hospital and the surgeon and anaestatist were very professional and I had absolutely no issues with their capabilities. Strangely, the on call OBGYN, Surgeon and Anaestatst were all Australian when I had my delivery so there were no language barrier issues. The nurses were all very friendly and professional throughout and if I were to ever have another child I would not hesitate to go back there again.
 
"how can you possibly compare public hospitals in australia to those in hk? especially since you have no experience of the hospitals in hk???"

This sounds so belittling. Sorry but it does.
 
i'm not sure what your experiences have been in the past, but whatever it is, it is very personal...i went private for both my pregnancies - the first one my baby ended up in a public hospital (QM) with complications and the second one was fine. at the end of the day, i would probably go private again only because for me i will know exactly who will be helping me deliver my baby, which to me is very important. (the first one was delivered by a substitute doctor who'd i'd only seen once before as my doctor was on holiday!...didn't want to go through that all again with the second one). it did help that i had insurance coverage so i paid only a small proportion of the cost....i must add though that had my 1st daughter was sent from matilda to QM for emergency care as they did not have the life saving equipment she needed which only 2 hospitals (ONLY public - QM and Prince of Wales) had since it is not cost effective for private hospitals to buy (YES, even though they charge you an arm and a leg in fees!)...since it these types of equipment are not commonly used.

I paid up to $11K for both my pregnancies - private at Matilda (had complications so it was more expensive that expected) and second at HK Sanatorium. Matilda I pretty much knew what room I was going to be in - the prices for the room types are NOT that great...at HK Sanatorium they don't promise you anything...when I checked in, I had a choice between deluxe room and shared room (and bathroom), which personally I didn't want to do (perhaps I'm anal, but I didn't want to share a bathroom) so that is why it cost so much...but with insurance coverage it was easy for me to decide in a sense.

My daughter stayed at the QM ICU unit for 10 days and it came to $500, my friends delivered twins at QM via public and paid $600...the machinery is great and the staff are wonderful, nurse probably have more experience than nurse at private (unless it's matilda since i believe that's a "maternity" hospital mostly) so I wouldn't worry about that not being good enough. the only thing for me is i NEEDED to know who my doctor was...the public health system is great here in HK - I wouldn't worry too much about that....my daughter still has regular follow up checks at QM and she's already 2! Good luck with whatever you decide!
 
bumps, it wasn't meant that way at all and i'm sorry if it came out sounding that way. it really wasn't mant as such.

whichever hospital one chooses, they choose according to what they think is best for them. i have no problem with that whatsoever. my point was simply that you cannot compare public hospitals in australia to public hospitals in hk, especially if you've never experienced a public hospital in hk. i grant that public hospitals are not perfect and that they have a lot of seemingly silly rules, but medically speaking there is absolutely nothing wrong wiht public hospitals. like i said, if anything goes wrong with your baby, they will end up in a public hospital anyway.

again, apologies if i came across as rude, it was not intended.
 
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