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Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital

Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital, a restructured hospital, was established in June 1993 by the government. Providing mainly rehabilitation and geriatric care, the hospital is home to Singapore's first acupuncture clinic set in a hospital. It is also one of a few step-down care hospitals. Step down care involves a patient being moved to a different level of care as his or her condition improves.

History
In 1993, the government established the Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital, as a part of its efforts to set up community hospitals to lower health costs, especially for the elderly. Construction of the hospital was completed in January 1993. The hospital does not provide acute care facilities and has instead a rehabilitation services, day-care and a medical centre for the elderly. The hospital is situated in a residential heartland surrounded by Housing Development Board flats and condominiums, ensuring it medical facilities are within easy reach of the general population. Built at a cost of S$40 million, the hospital is home to 10 clinics, all of which are outpatient clinics rented out to different physicians and specialists.

From 1 April 2002, the hospital was taken over from SingHealth by two voluntary organisations,  the Thye Huan Kwan Moral Society and the Chee Hoon Kong Moral Promotion Society. The change came in line with the government's plans to get Voluntary Welfare Organisations to run step-down care institutions in Singapore.

Description & facilities
The hospital's main services include rehabilitation facilities for recuperating patients, medical care facilities for patients requiring specialised care or investigations, respite care for patients at home and a day hospital for the elderly. The hospital also conducts training, teaching and social activities and runs stores for the supply of medicines and equipment. The respite care facility allows older patients who are ill to be admitted for a short period. The respite care programme also arranges for charity workers to visit the patient's home to prepare meals and bathe them. The hospital's home therapy services includes Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy. It also provides a Caregiver Training programme and offers advice for home modification and splinting. The hospital's other services include free health screening. The 201 bed hospital's wards are subsidised but even so some wards have air-conditioned facilities.

A centre for those with speech disabilities, called the Centre for Alternative and Augmentative Communication, was opened at the hospital in 2000. This centre uses tools, ranging from simple machines to sophisticated Lightwriters, to help people with speech problems communicate in other ways. Patients are also allowed to have the machines on loan. Singapore's first acupuncture clinic located in a hospital was opened at the hospital in 1995. Run by trained Chinese acupuncturists, they treat patients for aches and pains and dysfunction resulting from stroke. This Acupuncture Research Clinic mainly treats patients referred to it from government and restructured hospitals and clinics. In 2003, the hospital became the first private hospital to put up isolation wards for patients recovering from SARS. This 'halfway house' for post-SARS patients helped ease the load on government hospitals.

Address
Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital, 17 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 9, Singapore 569766.
Website: www.amkh.com.sg



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
Further care for discharged patients. (2002, April 2). The Straits Times.

Gadgets galore for the disabled at 2 centres. (2000, September 28). The Straits Times, p. 50.

Govt to operate new hospital at Ang Mo Kio. (1993, April 13). The Straits Times, p. 20.

'Halfway house' care at Ang Mo Kio hospital. (2003, May 2). The Straits Times.

Hospital care for patients at home. (1997, March 27). The Straits Times, p. 35.

Kan, G. (1993, December 18). Hospital's patients mostly elderly and aged over 70. The Straits Times, p. 30.

Leong, C. C. (1995, September 15). Acupuncture Research Clinic opens. The Straits Times, p. 27.

Pereira, B. (1993, April 14). New hospital offers new class of ward. The Straits Times, p. 24.

Wee, L. (1999, August 16). They're puncturing the myth. The Straits Times, Life!, pp. 1-2. 

VWOs to run Ang Mo Kio hospital. (2001, December 11). The Straits Times, p. 6.


Further Readings
Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2003, from www.amkh.com.sg/ 

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
Politics and Government>>Health
Hospitals--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
Health and medicine>>Health services



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