IMPROVEMENTS TO ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL

Dr S Vasoo asked the Minister for Health what improvements in facilities and services have been made to Alexandra Hospital so far and what other new facilities will be added on.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Improvements in facilities and services in AH

Alexandra Hospital is an acute hospital where the range of specialties such as general medicine, surgery, orthopaedics, is comparable to some of the restructured hospitals. Over the past few years, new medical equipment and facilities have been provided in the hospital. For example, a new X-ray department has replaced the old, and last year, a new hi-speed CT scan was introduced .

As a government hospital, more than 80% of the beds in AH are subsidised beds and these have been completely refurbished since 1995. With AH currently under the management of NUS, patients have access not only to the expertise of AH's in-house doctors and nurses, but also to NUS doctors. AH has also developed expertise in the area of geriatric medicine. The Alexandra Geriatric Centre was set up in 1994 and comprises an inpatient geriatric ward, Specialist Outpatient Clinics and a Day Hospital.

New Facilities coming up

For continuous service improvement, my Ministry has embarked on renovation works at AH at a total cost of $15 million under Phase IV of our renovation plans which is in addition to the $16 million we have already expended under the first three phases. These works will commence shortly. The outpatient clinics, A&E services and rehabilitation services will be upgraded and the public can expect better service delivery and physical environment at AH when the renovations are completed by end of 1999.