Home / Architecture and Landscape

National University Hospital (NUH)

National University Hospital, established in 1985, is Singapore's only university hospital. It serves as a general hospital as well as a clinical training centre and a research centre for the medical and dental faculties of the National University of Singapore (NUS). The hospital has many of the world's, the region's and Singapore's firsts to its credit.

History
NUH opened to the public and received its first patients on 24 June 1985. The hospital was officially opened on 17 June 1986 by Mr Goh Chok Tong, then First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence. The hospital was designed by TRM & MSJ Architects in association with Singapore Associate Architects and Indeco Pte. Ltd., and was built by an autonomous government institute in order to serve as a general and teaching hospital. Prior to its opening, clinical training for the students of NUS were carried out at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), where the university's medical school was located until it moved to the new NUS campus at Kent Ridge in 1986.

The hospital was originally owned by Temasek Holdings, a government investment holding company. It came under the Ministry of Health's Health Corporation of Singapore (HCS) in 1987. In 1990, the government decided to hand over the governance of the hospital to the National University of Singapore. This was in tune with the government's idea of making NUH the principal medical teaching institution of Singapore and a centre for medical excellence. In order to avoid duplication of expensive services, the government decided to make highly specialised units available at only two places; Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and NUH. All other hospitals were to house general speciality departments only. Since NUH was too large a financial operation to be transferred entirely at one go, the hospital first reverted back to Temasek Holdings before being transferred to NUS in phases.

The move also brought in expansion plans and the hospital added in a 200 bed, seven-storey tower ward block, eight operating theatres and intensive care units over an area of 3.2 ha at a cost of S$100 million. The designer of the new wing was Indeco Pte. Ltd. At the same time, a new fees scheme was introduced for senior doctors at the hospital in order to place more weightage on teaching and research. Many areas of specialisation, sub-specialisation and facilities, such as the latest medical equipment, were introduced.

Description and facilities
NUH is today a 943 bed, acute-care, tertiary hospital with 21 clinical departments, three dental departments and six paramedical departments. The hospital runs a number of specialist outpatient clinics and specialised service centres, a medical records office, a health screening centre, pharmacies and other facilities providing a comprehensive of medical services. In 2000, the hospital began offering an on-line service via the Internet portal www.netCare.com.sg. The portal provides patients and doctors instant access to patients' medical history and reports. Patients who register at the portal can also can check, make or change their appointment dates on-line, or be reminded via e-mail or short messages on the mobile phone.

The hospital's medical research facilities include a biomedical research unit, with a tissue repository and a biostatistics clinic, and a clinical trial unit. The biomedical research unit conducts research in more than 20 medical disciplines. Four institutes: The Children's Medical Institute (CMI), The Cancer Institute, The Eye Institute and The Heart Institute, under the National Healthcare Group blanket are also managed by NUH. The hospital is also involved in community work and has set up endowment funds as charities.

As a teaching hospital, NUH provides medical and dental education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It also conducts medical seminars, Continuing Medical Education programmes and medicine-related events for doctors in practice to update their knowledge..

Timeline
1985 : National University Hospital begins taking in patients.
1986 : NUH is officially opened.
1988 : The first hospital in Southeast Asia to establish an Orthopaedic Diagnostic Centre (ODC).
1988 : NUH is the first hospital in Singapore to offer ambulatory care facility for cancer patients.
1989 : NUH delivers the world's first baby conceived by a unique technique called Micro-Insemination Sperm Transfer (MIST).
1990 : NUH's Department of Ophthalmology develops the world's first software programme for colour vision testing.
1990 : NUH's cardiac team is the first in Asia to successfully treat a patient with a new procedure called Atherectomy.
1990 : The first liver transplant in Singapore is successfully performed at NUH.
1990 : NUH becomes the world's first to achieve a artificial womb pregnancy.
1991 : NUH is the first hospital in Singapore to start a programme to help patients cope with stress at its Stress Clinic.
1991 : NUH is the first hospital in the Asia-Pacific region to come up with the integration of three modules -- inpatient, outpatient and emergency modules -- of the Patient Care System (PCS).
1991 : NUH makes medical history with the world's first successful birth of twins from a "laboratory womb" using a Co-culture system. This method was pioneered by Prof. Arif Bongso, a member of the NUH team that performed this work. The team included Dr.S.S.Ratnam, Dr.Ng Soon Chye, Dr.C.Anandakumar and Dr. Wong Yee Chee.
1993 : NUH is Southeast Asia's first hospital to use a High Resolution Image Net System to perform on the spot fluorescein and indocyanine-green angiography.
1993 : NUH doctors are the first in Asia to help a woman with Turner's Syndrome conceive.
1995 : NUH is the first hospital in Singapore to perform a Paediatric Cadaveric Transplant.
1995 : NUH makes the region's first allergy testing services available for local pollen, ferns & fungal spores.
1995 : NUH performs the region's first Digital Replantation Surgery under local anaesthesia.
1995 : NUH performs Singapore's first liver transplant using a reduced graft.
1995 : NUH becomes the first in Asia to perform a Purified Stem Cell Rescue.
1995 : NUH becomes the first in the region to perform a minimally invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery.
1996 : NUH delivers the region's first set of twins from frozen embryo donations.
1996 : NUH performs Singapore's first living-related liver transplant.
1996 : NUH's Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery Department performs the first cross-hand transplantation in the region.
1997 : NUH's Liver Transplant Team performs the first "split liver" transplant in Southeast Asia.
1997 : NUH's Cardiothoracic surgeons are the first in Asia to perform a open heart surgery on a "beating heart".
2001 : The world's first successful cord blood transplant on Thalassaemia Major patient is performed successfully by doctors from NUH and SGH.

Address
National University Hospital
5 Lower Kent Ridge Road
Singapore 119074



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
Edwards, N., & Keys, P. (1996). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets & places (p. 321). Singapore, Kuala Lumpur: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 EDW)

Koh, J. T. (1991, May 3). World's first births from 'lab womb' achieved in S'pore. The Straits Times, p. 1.

Loh, S. (1993, June 30). First in Asia; Pregnant without ovaries. The Straits Times, Life!, p. 1-2.

New fees scheme introduced for senior doctors at NUH. (1990, May 3). The Straits Times, p. 23. 

NUS to govern university hospital. (1990, March 28). The Business Times, p. 2.

Personal health data at your fingertips. (2000, July 6). The Straits Times, p. 33.

Teo, A. (1990, April 3). NUH to be teaching hospital; changes will not affect staff, operations. The Business Times, p. 2.

Toh, S. (1990, September 6). NUH scores a first with artificial womb pregnancy. The Straits Times, p. 1.

Varsity to take over running of NUH. (1990, March 28). The Straits Times, p. 1.

National University Hospital. (2003). About NUH. Retrieved October 8, 2003, from www.nuh.com.sg/aboutus.html



Further Readings
Chong, G. P. (1989, April 25). Singapore doctors score world first. The Straits Times, p. 1.

National University Hospital going for more specialisation and facilities. (1990, May 3). The Straits Times, p. 23. 

NUH to get more beds, operating theatres in $160m expansion. (1991, August 18). The Straits Times, p. 1.

Singapore's first liver transplant. (1990, October 3). The Straits Times, p. 1.

Toh, S. (1990, May 3). NUS to take over NUH. The Straits Times, p. 1.

The information in this article is valid as at 2003 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Public Buildings
Politics and Government>>Health
University hospitals--Singapore
Hospitals--Singapore
Singapore--History--1965-1990
Health and medicine>>Health services

Librarian Recommendations
>> Singapore General Hospital (SGH)
>> First Liver Transplant


All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2004.