The predecessor of the hospital was Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in the Mid-Levels of Hong Kong Island. It is the first Chinese medicine hospital in Hong Kong to treat diseases with western medicine technology. Later, in order to commemorate the care and love of the late Hong Kong Governor Sir Edward Youde, the hospital was named after Mrs Youde. After the hospital moved to Chai Wan, it mainly provided 24-hour general emergency services and outreach community services to residents in eastern Hong Kong Island.

In the 1980' s, residents in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island fought for the construction of a hospital. It was not until 1983 that the government implemented the construction. In the same year, the government set up a temporary emergency room in Chai Wan Health Center until the Eastern Hospital was completed. East Hospital started construction in June 1984 1 1, when the government announced that the construction period would be shortened from ten years to six years.