SINGAPORE: The specialist outpatient clinics at the new Khoo Teck Puat Hospital open this Monday - and so that nearby residents can familiarise themselves with the place, the hospital is holding an open house on Sunday.
The clinics will open from 8am to 5.30pm on Mondays to Fridays,
while some may also open on Saturdays later this year, said Alexandra
Health, the health care cluster that will manage the new 550-bed
hospital.
Services at the six-storey tower block include dental; ear, nose and
throat; eye; general surgery; cardiology; geriatric and a diabetes
centre, among others.
Also opening on Monday are day surgery, endoscopy, laboratory, pharmacy,
radiology, nutrition and dietetics, and rehabilition support services.
The rest of the hospital - including the Department of Acute Care and
Emergency and the inpatient wards - will open from July. The Khoo Teck
Puat Hospital is at 90, Yishun Central.
Meanwhile, the Alexandra Hospital site at Alexandra Road will be fully
managed by Jurong Health Services from August. The change-over will not
affect patient care and services, Alexandra Health assured the public.
- TODAY/sc
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital holds open house
SINGAPORE : Part of the new Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun will open on Monday, and residents living in the area were given a glimpse of the facilities during its open house on Sunday.
The S$800 million hospital took some three and half years to
build.
For now, only its Specialist Outpatient Clinics will open, as the rest
of the hospital - including inpatient wards - will be ready from July.
The hospital is also starting slow - seeing about 200 patients a day
rather than the 2,000 it is designed to take when fully functional.
It is about the same size as Changi General Hospital, but has fewer
beds, numbering 555.
Liak Teng Lit, CEO, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, explained: "What has
happened is that more healthcare has been shifted out to day surgery, to
day care. We do not need to admit patients into the ward to do a lot of
the surgical procedures, for example.
"We have many more clinics, and we also have more facilities for
outpatient care, day surgery and so on. And we also have more isolation
rooms because (of lessons learnt) from SARS, and...the last infectious
disease outbreak. We know that we need to have...isolation rooms.")
Visitors were also pleased with the convenience of having a hospital in
the heartlands.
One visitor said: " (This is) very convenient for all nearby residents,
(we) do not need to go to downtown to see a specialist."
Another commented: "Even though I live in the Ang Mo Kio area, it is not
really that far. My first impression is that it is really spacious.
What I like very much is the pond outside."
Architects also put much thought into the hospital's design to reduce
energy usage - by having solar panels and harnessing natural breezes.
Mr Liak said: "We also built a rooftop garden, mainly to reduce the
heat-load and basically to improve the whole ambience. We have planted a
lot of fruit trees; we have over a hundred fruit trees on the roof,
including durian, and we are planting vegetables."
Residents who are helping to plant the vegetables will get half the
harvest, while patients will enjoy the other half.
- CNA/ms
KTPH opens A&E, inpatient wards 3 months ahead of schedule
SINGAPORE: The new Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun will open its Acute Care & Emergency (A&E) Centre and part of its inpatient wards on Monday, three months ahead of schedule.
The hospital will receive walk-in cases with immediate effect.
But, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) ambulance services will only begin from mid-July.
The A&E Centre aims to have 60 percent of patients diagnosed and treated within an hour initially, with plans to raise this to 90 percent in future.
- CNA/ir