Speech by President Tony Tan Keng Yam at the Official Opening of the Academia

Mr Gan Kim Yong
Minister for Health

Dr Amy Khor
Minister of State for Health

Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim
Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Transport

Mrs Tan Ching Yee
Permanent Secretary for Health

Mr Peter Seah
Chairman of SingHealth

Professor Ivy Ng
Group CEO of SingHealth

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

        I am indeed happy to join you this morning to officiate the opening of the Academia. The Academia not only marks SingHealth’s foray into academic medicine, but is also an embodiment of the collaboration that is taking place across disciplines and institutions in Singapore for the advancement of healthcare.

        The Academia was first conceived as a new home for the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Department of Pathology. As we see today, it has evolved to become a hub for diagnostic, education and research endeavours, and to serve as an incubator for biomedical breakthroughs and care innovations. The co-location of the Pathology Department with SingHealth’s education and research functions will enhance the interconnectivity among pathologists, clinician scientists, academics and healthcare professionals, and result in more sharing of ideas, as well as the acceleration of research efforts that will translate into clinically useful applications for better patient care.

        A national and regional leader in spearheading diagnostic efforts during national crises, such as SARS and H1N1, the SGH’s Pathology Department handled over 12 million laboratory investigations last year, including complex cases from public and private hospitals, in Singapore and from the region. With the opening of the Academia, the Department’s capacity for diagnostic services will be increased by a further 50%. The integration of latest technologies into lab processes will also enhance its test accuracy and reliability, and increase turnaround times for test results. Pathology residents can also learn and work side-by-side with staff pathologists, and benefit from the integrated and holistic specialist training with these new facilities.

        The Academia’s training facilities are designed to go beyond training procedural skills to training clinical staff to plan and attempt complex procedures as a team, in a controlled, yet extremely realistic environment. With a ‘mini-hospital’ setting that is well-equipped with a simulated ward, outpatient clinic room, emergency room, intensive care unit and even a fully functional operating theatre, potential risks and workflow issues can be identified and resolved among different healthcare providers in a training environment.  

        Today, we are not just celebrating the opening of a new building, but more importantly, the spirit of inquiry and collaboration among the people on this campus. The close partnership between Duke-NUS and SingHealth is a testament to this spirit. Besides Duke-NUS, SingHealth must continue to work closely with other institutions, such as A*STAR, the industries and the wider healthcare community, to anticipate emerging disease trends and medical needs of the future, and to create and apply new knowledge for the benefit of our society and economy.

        One such example, which resulted from the collaboration among scientists and pathologists from Singapore Eye Research Institute, Duke-NUS, SGH, NUS, and overseas institutions, is the isolation and modification of a natural compound from the mangosteen fruit into a new antibiotic molecule which could potentially minimise the spread of a particular type of infection in hospitals.

        Another example is the team at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and A*STAR which developed a video-based intelligent system that could detect hypermotor seizures in children in sleep, thereby reducing the burden on caregivers when monitoring seizures in patients.

        I am glad to note that there are many more such inter-disciplinary cross-institution teams that are working on new ideas and I am hopeful that facilities at the Academia will help them make further breakthroughs in academic medicine and healthcare. 

        Finally, I wish all of you many more successes as you continue to put patients at the heart of all that you do in advancing the practice of medicine.

        Thank you very much.