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10 Fascinating Facts about the New Hospital in Woodlands

2017-04-20 , 12:30 pm

As Singapore is facing a shrinking workforce, our first hospital facility in Woodlands will be depending heavily on smart technology to improve patient care.

And one of the reasons why it’s in Woodlands is that Woodlands is going through a reset to be the gem of the north (Yishun? Nah).

Interested to find out more about this new hospital? Here are 10 facts about this health hub of the future.

1. Opens in Year 2022

The Woodlands Health Campus (WHC) will serve the population in the North when it begins operation progressively in five years’ time in 2022.

2. First Integrated Acute and Community Hospital

It will be the first where both acute and community hospitals are built together and share the same building – as they will also share some medical professionals – so that patients can seamlessly move from acute to step-down care with the same doctors in charge.

3. Near MRT

It would be within a walking distance to Woodlands South MRT which will be opening in 2019. No car needed, just MRT, folks.

4. 1,800 Beds

This new health campus has 1,800 beds over 7,66 hectares. That’s approximately eleven football fields. Eleven of them!

5. Online Services

The facility will also rely on telehealth to allow people to access hospital services – such as registration, ordering medication, and payment – from their own homes. This will help to reduce manual work greatly to cope with resources. Smart hospital, indeed!

6. Artificial Intelligence

There will be a greater use of artificial intelligence to sift through large amounts of data to help healthcare professionals make better decisions and reduce medical errors. Robots will be deployed to automate back-end logistics such as housekeeping, freeing up staff to attend to patients’ personal needs.

7. Long-term Care Housing

Dementia friendly long-term care housing with living room space will also be built for family to spend quality time with patient.

8. Air-traffic Control Towers

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong stated that hospitals of the future can be air-traffic control towers “from which the healthcare team monitors its patients whether they are in the hospital or at home”.

9. More Green Spaces

The new campus will also include green spaces, such as a 1.5-hectare Healing Forest Garden with open spaces for exercise, community gardening plots, and quiet areas for people to just sit back and enjoy nature.

Guess that’s the best medicine in town.

10. Serve Growing Population in the North

The two hospitals at WHC, with Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and its adjoining Yishun Community Hospital, will provide a total of 2,400 hospital beds to serve the growing population in the north, especially the mature estates of Woodlands, Marsiling and Sembawang.

Since you’re here, why not check out Goody Feed’s YouTube videos as well? They’re so Singaporean, I bet you’ll like them!