PM Lee opens new National Heart Centre Singapore building
PUBLISHED ONSeptember 25, 2014 11:45 AM
The National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) new building was officially opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today (Sept 25).
The new building will significantly boost NHCS' capacity and capabilities in advancing cardiovascular medicine through patient care, research and education for better delivery of care.
Singaporeans are enjoying healthier lives because the country has a good and efficient healthcare system, said Mr Lee.
"While we have a good healthcare system, we must continue to improve it in all aspects," he added.
Since opening operations in March 2014, more than 37,000 heart outpatients have been seen at the new 50,000 sq m building.
It has three operating theatres and capacity for six cardiac catheterisation labs. A new short stay unit with 24 beds for day procedures will also help to free up more beds for severe patients.
The hospital has also increased its manpower to over 1,200 staff, and 4,000 sq m of space in the new building will be dedicated to advancing cardiovascular research.
NHCS has also undertaken a number of initiatives to become a hospital that operates in a paper-less, film-less, chart-less and script-less environment.
The new One-Queue-One-Bill system at NHCS also allows patients to go through their entire visit with a single queue slip and printed personalised journey, and make a consolidated payment at the end of all consultations, tests and medications.
NHCS doctors also now make clinical notes electronically, which are synchronised with digital imaging scans and test reports to do away with the printing of X-ray films and manual data entry of test results.
The inpatient wards at NHCS also come with automated cabinets and carts that help nurses quickly pick out the right medication for patients by simply scanning the patient's identification tag.
Adjunct Professor Terrance Chua, Medical Director of NHCS, said:" The NHCS new building allows us to deliver care for the full spectrum of heart conditions all within the same building."
He added that the increased capacity of NHCS will help to meet Singapore's future tertiary cardiac care needs.
seanyap@sph.com.sg