National University Hospital

The National University Hospital (Abbreviation: NUH; Chinese: 国立大学医院; Malay: Hospital Universiti Nasional Singapura), established in 1985, is Singapore’s only university hospital. It serves as a tertiary 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. It is a specialist hospital that provides advanced, leading-edge medical care.

NUH was originally known as the Kent Ridge Hospital according to its proposal as early as 1972, with a second plan drawn in 1975 by the then-University of Singapore Development Unit, when the hospital was planned at the Kent Ridge area, which actually costs $193 million to built, with an initial projection of 752 beds and a cost of $143 million. Construction began in 1980 and the entire project was completed at the end of 1984.

NUH received its new staff on 15 January 1985 (on the same day itself, Kent Ridge Hospital was renamed to NUH) and opened to the public and received its first patients on 24 June 1985, with the opening of two departments namely the Department of Medicine and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. The hospital was officially opened on 17 June 1986 by Mr Goh Chok Tong, then First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence.

NUH was the first hospital in Singapore to be conferred the Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation in August 2004 and the Singapore Service Class award in July 2004.

It is also the first and only hospital in Singapore to receive a triple ISO certification:

ISO 9001 – 2000 (Quality Management System)
ISO 14001 – 1996 (Environmental Management System)
OHSAS 18001 – 1999 (Occupational Health & Safety Management System)

Built in 1985, NUH’s main building and service block are situated in a north-south orientation and conveniently linked by a service amd communications ‘spine’. The designers separated the ‘service tunnel’ from the pedestrian levels, exploiting the sloping site to good use.

The blocks respond to the tropical climate with recessed windows, verendahs and concrete sun shades. Shady courtyards that act as reservoirs of cool air enhance cross-ventilation in the non air-conditioned interiors.

Kent Ridge Wing 2 was completed in 1996. It comprises an inpatient wing and also houses specialist outpatient clinics and service centres. The nine-storey tower block atop a podium gives a distinctive focus to providing a conducive environment for patients’ recovery, amidst the lush greenery of the Kent Ridge. The metal and glass facade reflects the hospital’s modern image and high standards in healthcare.

Major Milestones

1985 – NUH opened its doors to the public on 24 June with 180 employees. It treated 50 outpatients and 4 inpatients on its first day.
1986 – First Asian hospital to successfully use frozen embryos. The Emergency Department was activated on a 24-hour basis. Official inauguration by Mr Goh Chok Tong, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence.
1989 – World’s first baby conceived with MIST (Micro-Insemination Sperm Transfer) was born in NUH.
1990 – Developed the first known software programme for colour vision testing in the world – fully automated Farnsworth 100 hue test.
1991 – The world’s first successful birth of twins using co-culture.
1995 – First minimally invasive coronary bypass surgery in the region.
1996 – Region’s first birth of two sets of twins from frozen embryo donations. Kent Ridge Wing 2, NUH’s new extension, opened its doors to the public on 9 Sep.
1997 – The Liver Transplant Team performed Southeast Asia’s first ‘split liver’ transplant. Cardiothoracic surgeons at NUH are the first in Asia to perform an open heart surgery on a ‘beating heart’.
2001 – NUH and SGH jointly performed the world’s first successful cord blood transplant on a Thalassaemia Major patient.
2002 – NUH doctors performed the first micro-incision vitreoretinal surgery in Southeast Asia.
2005 – Asia’s first bone marrow and kidney transplant were performed at NUH.
2006 – First simultaneous bilateral cochlear implant on young patient in Singapore. NUH also performed the first hip resurfacing surgery in Singapore.
2007 – First-in-man clinical trials – testing drugs on humans for the first time.

Information from Wikipedia.org