In 1949, Dr N D Fraser, Medical Secretary for China of The Mission to Lepers (later The Leprosy Mission), in conjunction with the Hong Kong Government, set up an outpatient clinic to treat the leprosy patients squatting at Sandy Bay. In August 1951 the Hay Ling Chau Leprosarium was opened, built by the Tung Wah Hospital with the aid of a government grant. Hay Ling Chau means “Island of Happy Healing”.
The Maxwell Memorial Hospital was opened on Hay Ling Chau in 1954 and a radiography unit established in May 1956. Two years later a surgical programme was inaugurated and a full-time physiotherapist appointed in 1961. The Hay Ling Chau Leprosarium closed in January 1975, the remaining patients being transferred to the old Lai Chi Kok Hospital.
In 1950 the Hong Kong Auxiliary of the Mission to Lepers was formed and located at Beaconsfield House in Central. The Auxiliary was responsible for ‘supervision and treatment’ at Hay Ling Chau. It changed its name to The Leprosy Mission Hong Kong Auxiliary in 1964. (Information from Hong Kong Government Records Service)
Patient files from Hay Ling Chau Leprosarium are held in the Public Records Office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Collection details are available here.