National Heart Centre Singapore’s new building promises a seamless and hassle-free experience for patients
The country’s busiest cardiovascular centre, National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), has moved into its new building at 5 Hospital Drive, allowing it to deliver even better care for heart patients.
“Our new 12-storey building emphasises our long-term commitment to meet the growing cardiovascular needs of Singapore’s ageing population,” says Adjunct Professor Terrance Chua, medical director of NHCS.
“We have built additional cardiac catheterisation labs and operating theatres as well as expanded the specialist outpatient clinics to prepare us to meet any future increase in demand for heart disease care with our nation’s growing elderly, rising rates of diabetes and obesity.
“In addition, the additional space offers us the opportunity to add new services, such as 3T cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and genetics.”
NHCS accounts for 40 per cent of all heart patients treated at public hospitals in Singapore. It saw over 110,000 heart outpatients last year, with this number set to reach 200,000 by 2030.
The centre provides highly specialised medical services such as cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, filling a vital niche in Singapore’s public health system as heart disease is the second leading cause of death and hospitalisation here.
Larger and better
Covering a gross floor area of 50,000 sq m and costing $266 million to build, NHCS’ 12-storey building with three basement levels is an increase in space of almost four times over its former Mistri Wing and offsite facilities.
It houses 38 specialist outpatient clinics, cardiac laboratories, an expanded cardiac rehabilitation unit with its own 30m exercise track and a garden view, six cardiac catheterisation laboratories and three major operating theatres.
The admissions office and pre-admission tests centre are in the same building, as is its pharmacy, which comes with a new retail section offering patients the convenience of buying heart health-related products.
The inpatient wards with 185 beds are located at an adjacent block and connected by a sky bridge, allowing medical staff to transfer patients for procedures easily between the buildings.
Those requiring day procedures or surgeries will be able to rest at the new short stay unit with a capacity of 24 beds.
Patients seeking treatment at NHCS can be assured of safe and high quality care as the centre is accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI).
JCI is an international standard-setting and accrediting body for healthcare institutions and its accreditation, which requires renewal every three years, is considered the gold standard in global health care. NHCS was the first heart centre outside the United States to receive the prestigious accreditation in 2005.
Good for patients and environment
Recognised as a Green Mark Platinum building by the Building and Construction Authority, the new building has 2,200 sq m of greenery, equivalent to 20 five-room HDB flats. The extensive greenery will lower the building’s interior temperature, improve its air quality and reduce carbon dioxide emission.
The building’s design elements leverage the natural ventilation at the Level 2 concourse area as well as daylight with the extensive use of glass window panels to illuminate the building’s interior.
The building’s exterior is wrapped in a perforated, undulating façade that keeps out heat during the day while letting sunlight stream through.
Other eco-friendly features include an energy-efficient air-conditioning plant and regenerative lifts, helping the centre save $1.3 million a year in energy costs.
“The building layout is based on a patient-centric concept and incorporates various elderly-friendly features such as extra-large entrance signs and green features to create a soothing and therapeutic environment for our patients,” says Prof Chua.
Envisaged as a digital heart hospital, NHCS has leveraged information technology (IT) to go paper-less, film-less, chart-less and script-less, enabling quick and accurate sharing of information and implementation of best practices across multiple healthcare workers, departments and institutions.
NHCS has achieved Stage 6 of the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, indicating the high degree of clinical automation incorporated into patient care services and its ability to provide the highest levels of patient safety and quality outcomes.
HIMSS is a global, cause-based, not-for-profit organisation focused on better health through IT.
The centre has a “1 Queue 1 Bill” system, making patient visits more seamless and convenient.
Patients just need to register once at the clinic upon arrival and the same queue number will be transferred to the other service locations. A single point of payment combines clinic consultation, cardiac investigations and medication charges for the day into a single bill.
Research and education
“The opening of our new building is an exciting opportunity to expand our capacity to meet increased demand and to increase productivity by bringing service, research and training together into a single space,” says Prof Chua.
“As the largest provider of cardiac care in Singapore, NHCS aims to improve care through innovation, research and the introduction of new treatments, while maintaining high standards of service and training.”
Research laboratories, formerly located at the School of Nursing, are now integrated into the new building under the newly launched National Heart Research Institute Singapore.
Covering one-and-a-half floors, the co-location of research and clinical facilities will enhance the interaction between researchers and clinicians, creating a vibrant academic medicine culture that promotes the translation of research into clinical services to improve patient care.
Undergraduate training is supported for medical students from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and overseas medical schools doing elective postings.
NHCS is already the participating institution for the mandatory cardiology rotation for internal medicine residents in SingHealth.
NHCS is also an active training centre for enrolled nursing students from the Institute of Technical Education and polytechnics, Master of Nursing students from NUS and advanced resident nurses under the SingHealth Resident Nurse scheme.
“The building has dedicated facilities for training and research. Our passion in education has nurtured numerous doctors, nurses and allied health professionals both locally and overseas, affirming Singapore’s status as the preferred cardiovascular medicine training centre in Asia,” says Prof Chua.
With the three pillars of patient care, research and education integrated in the new building, patients can expect to benefit in the long term from the enhanced care resulting from well-trained healthcare practitioners and cutting-edge research.
