July is a much anticipated month across SingHealth campuses as we celebrate Nurses’ Day that falls on 1 August.
This year’s SingHealth Nurses’ Day Celebration was extra special as SingHealth announced the establishment of the Wee Foundation Nursing Academic Fund, made possible by a generous contribution of $5 million from the Wee Foundation.
This is the Wee Foundation’s first gift to nursing, and will advance education and development opportunities for SingHealth nurses, empowering them to scale greater heights of excellence in their respective areas of expertise and specialisation.
“The Wee Foundation believes that quality education is the key to shaping a better future for all. In line with that belief, we are pleased to support SingHealth in its academic medicine programmes to retrain and upskill its nursing workforce.
Nurses make such an enduring and meaningful difference in the health of the patients they care for and their loved ones every single day. This gift also reflects our deep gratitude to this very special group of professionals who inspire us with their dedication to their vocation and their immense contributions, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ms Wee Wei Ling, Director, Wee Foundation.
SingHealth is the largest public healthcare group in Singapore, and has close to six million patient encounters each year. This transformational gift will be a source of encouragement to the 11,700 nurses across SingHealth institutions.
Expressing her appreciation on behalf of SingHealth nurses, Adj Assoc Prof Tracy Carol Ayre, Group Chief Nurse, SingHealth, shared, “As nurses, we work closely with different healthcare professionals and with patients and their loved ones. We are in a privileged and unique position to propose and pursue new solutions to healthcare challenges across the full spectrum of our work that directly impact patients – from clinical care settings to population health, from process redesign to research and innovation. The Wee Foundation Nursing Academic Fund will go a long way in unleashing the potential of our nursing workforce and nurturing the nursing leaders of tomorrow, so that we can continue to care for future generations of Singaporeans in the best way possible,”
As a token of gratitude for the Foundation’s generosity, Adj Assoc Prof Ayre presented Ms Wee with a Chinese calligraphy scroll handwritten by Assistant Nurse Clinician Zeng Wenying from National Heart Centre Singapore.
The Wee Foundation Nursing Academic Fund inaugurated the Wee Foundation Nurses’ Day Awards this year, which saw 95 nurses across SingHealth institutions being honoured during the celebrations. These awards recognise deserving recipients who have demonstrated excellence in their careers and emerging nurse leaders who have made enormous contributions towards improving the quality and standard of nursing care. In the pipeline are Scholarships and Nurses+ training awards under the Wee Foundation Nursing Academic Fund which will be awarded next year.
