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Jurong hospital to open on June 30, after half-year delay

SINGAPORE — After a six-month delay, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital ­(NTFGH) will see its first patients on June 30, with the opening of its inpatient wards, outpatient clinics and emergency department.

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SINGAPORE — After a six-month delay, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital ­(NTFGH) will see its first patients on June 30, with the opening of its inpatient wards, outpatient clinics and emergency department.

The opening also marks the closure of Alexandra Hospital, which will undergo renovations and reopen under the management of Sengkang Health.

Located at Jurong East, the 700-bed NTFGH, managed by Jurong Health Services (JurongHealth), will open with 365 beds first, and 80 of its 120 outpatient clinic rooms. It will also house 76 community hospital beds until the 400-bed Jurong Community Hospital (JCH), which is located in NTFGH, officially opens by the end of the year.

Another 185 beds and 13 clinics will be opened in the next 12 months.

Speaking at the media preview of the hospital today (April 29), JurongHealth chief executive Foo Hee Jug said currently, other than Alexandra Hospital, the National University Hospital (NUH) has been the key hospital serving the western part of Singapore. “By the time (NTFGH) comes in, we will share the workload ... our catchment area is about 900,000 (people), shared with NUH,” he said. “We also know that we are very close to the industrial areas, so as part of our opening preparations, we also want to be prepared for trauma cases.”

For the first month, NTFGH’s emergency department will receive only walk-in cases to allow operations to stabilise. It will start to receive resuscitation and critically-ill patients from August 1.

In the interim, the Ministry of Health will manage capacity and redirect emergency cases to public hospitals islandwide, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong at the media preview today. “We will ensure sufficient capacity to manage emergency cases. This is part and parcel of the phasing in of NTFGH … to build competency and familiarity (and) ensure patient safety,” said Mr Gan.

Meanwhile, Alexandra Hospital will cease operations by 5.30pm on June 29. Operations at the hospital will also be scaled down as NTFGH’s opening approaches.

From May 30, patients picked up near Alexandra Hospital will be brought to the emergency departments of the nearest public hospitals, such as Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and NUH.

Mr Foo said JurongHealth will step up communication of Alexandra Hospital’s closure to patients to facilitate a smooth and safe transition.

By June 16, new and existing patients will be informed of their option to transfer to NTFGH or another public hospital, should they still need inpatient services after Alexandra Hospital’s closure. From June 23, patients at the hospital’s emergency department who need to warded will be admitted to SGH or NUH instead, to allow continuity of care without a subsequent physical transfer.

NTFGH was initially slated to open last December, but the opening was pushed back by about six months because of construction delays. In the interim, Alexandra Hospital stayed open, while beds were added at Changi General Hospital, SGH and NUH.

Ahead of the opening, NTFGH will be carrying out more training and preparation, such as “full-dress rehearsals” simulating a patient’s journey from the emergency department to operation theatres and wards.

NTFGH’s emergency department will be equipped with unique facilities such as scanners that will instantly identify walk-in patients who are running a temperature, and sound-proof cubicles to allow nurses to better monitor individual patients.

Trauma-ready rooms can also be reconfigured — three cubicles can be expanded into one — to accommodate a larger team of critical-care staff for major cases.

Its subsidised B2- and C-class wards are also 10 per cent larger than that of other public hospitals, to allow for better ventilation and more space for medical personnel and equipment to be moved around, said Mr Foo.

Asked about the persistent bed crunch seen at public hospitals, Mr Gan said the Government will continue to encourage patients to first consult primary care facilities such as polyclinics and general practitioners to minimise demand for hospital beds. Apart from NTFGH and JCH, Yishun Community Hospital is also set to open its doors this year. “(The Government) is also continuing to step up investment in primary care. In Jurong, for example, we will be having a new poly­clinic to open around 2017. Together with step-down care facilities, such as nursing homes, we will be able to provide a comprehensive and appropriate care for outpatients,” he said.

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