Kerk Ka Lee, Senior Clinical Transplant Manager, Mechanical Circulatory Support, Heart & Lung Transplant Unit (extreme left) and Dr Sivathasan Cumaraswamy, Advisor, Heart Transplant & Mechanical Assist Device Programme (middle in white shirt and tie), together with patients and their families. 

Staff who have been with NHCS since its Mistri Wing days would certainly find the above location familiar. It was the makan* and photo spot outside the old lecture theatre! That place was cosy and holds a lot of fond memories for many of us although it is hard to imagine now how large crowds managed to squeeze there after an event!

Likewise, it was also our department’s gathering spot to makan and network after our regular patient support group sessions. I still remember the year-end gathering we had in 2012, where we celebrated the health journey together with 24 patients who were on left ventricular assist device (LVAD) since the initiation of the device in 2009, as well as with two patients who underwent heart transplantation in 2009 and 2011 respectively. The most memorable and significant was the visit of Ms Angelique Schoeber (above image, third from right), a patient from the Netherlands, who had LVAD implantation in 2010.  You can read more about her story in the news article below.

(click on article to enlarge)

To this day, our patient support group continues to support and care for our patients at our current building but with a more generous space for educational and social interaction.

*Malay word meaning ‘eat’