SINGAPORE : The Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in the northern neighbourhood of Yishun will open next year as scheduled. Its outpatient clinic will start operations in April, followed by the rest of the hospital in October.

On Friday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan was at the topping out ceremony to mark the structural completion of the 550-bed hospital.

Next to the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital will be a community hospital, while there will be a new nursing home - the Villa Francis Nursing Home - across from it. Both are due to open by 2012.

Mr Khaw said the three entities will work with other partners including general practitioners, polyclinics, Home Nursing Foundation, and nursing homes in the vicinity to provide a spectrum of services - from wellness programmes, chronic disease management to palliative care.

He said: "Together, they will make up an integrated healthcare hub in the north that will take care of practically all the healthcare needs of each patient - from head to toe, from beginning to end. This is our vision of what the future in the north should be like. It will soon materialise before our eyes."

Mr Khaw said that the hospital will provide "fast medicine", with fast paced, high-speed acute care capabilities to take care of the critically ill. Meanwhile, the community hospital will represent a "slow medicine" for non-acute patients. The new nursing home will provide nursing and therapy services not available or practical to be provided at home.

The Khoo Teck Puat Hospital will have state-of-the art facilities, for the benefit and convenience of patients. The hospital is also designed to enhance natural ventilation, with spacious, cooler interiors and wards.

But Mr Khaw said that more important than the hardware is the software of the hospital to ensure its success. In the past three years, the hospital has been recruiting, retaining and developing talent.

As a result, it has managed to ramp up its healthcare professional numbers - including doctors, nurses and those in allied healthcare services such as physiotherapists - by 35 per cent. It currently has 1,800 healthcare staff but hopes to increase this number further to about 2,300.

Liak Teng Lit, CEO, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, said: "Over the next couple of years, as we expand the community services and so on, we will be getting people along the way. Who and the kind of people we bring in will depend on the kind of work that we do here."

Mr Khaw said that the new Khoo Teck Puat Hospital will create many job opportunities for the residents.

He also hopes that it will be a shining example of volunteerism - a hospital for the community, by the community - where residents nearby can volunteer their services, for example in-patient support groups, and to bring cheer to the people.

Residents who are interested to volunteer at the hospital can help develop a health-promoting garden around the Yishun Pond. - CNA/ms