The Sengkang General and Community Hospitals are making good progress in its infrastructure development. The hospitals are on track to open in the second half of 2018.

This milestone was commemorated in a simple ceremony at the Community Health Fair at Compass One officiated by Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Health and Transport. In preparation for its opening next year, the team is reaching out to residents in the northeast to keep them updated on the building progress, the patient care and experience they can expect at the integrated hospital campus.

When fully opened, the Sengkang General and Community Hospitals will expand the national healthcare capacity with a total of 1,400 beds to meet healthcare demands of an ageing population. The integrated hospital campus will house a general hospital offering a wide spectrum of specialty clinics and a community hospital offering longer-term rehabilitative care, all under one roof. Patients can look forward to a ‘one care plan, one patient experience’ with the integration of services and care transfers. Patients requiring longer-term rehabilitation can be seamlessly transferred from the general hospital to the community hospital, ensuring that patients receive the appropriate type and level of care during their recovery.

For better patient experience and convenience, related services are co-located within certain specialty clinics at the hospital campus. For instance, X-ray, physiotherapy and occupational therapy services are located within the orthopaedic clinic area so patients need not move around to multiple places during their visit. Backed by SingHealth’s network and expertise, the hospitals are also collaborating with the national specialty centres, such as National Heart Centre and Singapore National Eye Centre, to offer specialty services at the hospital campus. This will benefit residents in the northeast who will be able to access these services nearer their home.

"We are not just building a hospital building, but a hospital of the future that will serve many generations in the northeast for years to come. It is exciting to see that our vision of a modern

'sanctuary of healing' is one step closer to opening its doors. From the start, the Sengkang General and Community Hospitals have been designed with the community in mind and we want the hospital to be a place that is more than a medical facility. We hope to invite the community into our communal spaces or the “Community Heart” where they can mingle, socialise, take part in health talks and healthy living activities to stay active and connected," said Professor Christopher Cheng, Chief Executive Officer, Sengkang Health.

To bring care closer to the community, the hospitals will be leveraging TeleHealth technologies to better support community care and outreach beyond the campus. For example, the hospital team is working with intermediate and long-term care (ILTC) partners such as nursing homes to provide remote support to manage nursing home residents as well as help provide timely interventions and minimise visits to the A&E. In addition, Tele-rehabilitation technologies will also be harnessed to help discharged patients to actively continue their rehabilitation exercises at the comfort of their home with the support of a therapist from the hospital.

Within the hospitals, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology will be extensively adopted to improve patient safety and optimise hospital processes - a step towards a smarter hospital. Patients will be issued with a RFID wrist tag from the start of their inpatient journey, enabling doctors and nurses to monitor patients’ locations in real time for more timely patient care. The RFID tagging of portable medical equipment will also enhance resource optimisation and reduce misplacement of equipment. This allows clinical staff to spend more time on patients.

Seamless care experience that extends beyond the hospital

To bring its mission of “Better Health Together” to reality, the hospital team has built partnerships with community-based organisations, General Practitioners (GP) and other healthcare partners in the northeast to promote healthy lifestyles and create greater awareness on preventive care even before the hospital opens its doors. For example, the hospital team has been working closely with a network of GPs in the northeast for both health screening and the management of stable chronic illnesses. The GPs and their patients will be offered direct access to the upcoming hospitals’ services and facilities. Additionally, the hospital’s team of doctors has been giving health talks on the management of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension during health screenings and roadshows organised at community centres and faith-based organisations such as mosques and churches.

This health fair themed “Prepare. Prevent. Protect” is one such effort to spread the healthy living message to the community. The fair highlights the importance of preventive care and management of conditions such as cancer, diabetes, frailty, fall prevention and dementia through booth exhibitions and activities. Residents are encouraged to participate in fitness and health-related activities, particularly on the management of chronic illnesses.

Sengkang Health is currently managing Alexandra Hospital where we are privileged to care for patients prior to the opening of the Sengkang General and Community Hospitals in the second half of 2018. The upcoming 1,400-bed integrated hospitals will deliver acute and longer-term rehabilitation care to meet the healthcare demands of an ageing population. As part of the SingHealth cluster, the Sengkang General and Community Hospitals will provide innovative and quality care to better serve the healthcare needs in northeast Singapore. The hospitals envision enriching the quality of life of residents by delivering holistic, informed and reassuring care in partnership with the community.

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For media queries, please contact:

Ms Farah Rahman

Executive

Communications & Service Quality

Sengkang Health

DID: 6370 6611 HP: 9686 7159

Email: Farahliyana.Rahman@skh.com.sg

Ms Loretta Lee

Assistant Director

Communications & Service Quality

Sengkang Health

DID: 6370 6599 HP: 9634 5920

Email: Loretta.Lee@skh.com.sg