16 March 2002

Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially opens Singapore's newest private tertiary hospital today.

Raffles Hospital, which began operations in March last year, has completed a successful year, having attended to more than 180,000 patients and carried out some 7,000 surgeries in the past 12 months.

A New Model for Private Specialist Practice
Speaking at its official opening, Executive Chairman Dr Loo Choon Yong said, "The building of Raffles Hospital is a physical and living manifestation of our motto of putting our patients' needs first and foremost in what we do."

Raffles Hospital is the first private hospital in Singapore to operate on the group practice model.

Said Dr Loo: "Our vision is for a hospital where our consultant specialists can practise good medicine and serve the best interests of our patients. We believe the way to achieve this is through a group practice model."

As a group practice, our specialists work as a team in the care of our patients. This model is the mode of practice in internationally renowned medical centres of excellence such as the Mayo Clinic and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the United States.

"It is our firm belief that the group practice model of Raffles Hospital will result in a new era for private specialist practice in Singapore," said Professor Walter Tan, Medical Director, Raffles Hospital.

"The group practice model allows for optimal conditions for patient care and also better teaching, training and research opportunities," explained Prof Tan, who was the former Chief and Professor of Surgery at National University Hospital.

He added: "One feature is the transparency of the whole patient care process. We have a panel of senior doctors who form an audit committee to review all patient related management episodes."

A Hospital for the New Millennium
Raffles Hospital is a 380-bed tertiary private hospital. It offers a 24 Hour Walk-In Clinic and Accident & Emergency, Raffles Specialist Centre comprising multi-disciplinary specialty clinics, beautifully appointed wards, day surgery, delivery suites, angiography, operating theatres, intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, radiology, clinical laboratory, pharmacy, dietetics and physiotherapy.

In addition to its comprehensive range of medical services, Raffles Hospital has, in its last 12 months of operations, gained a reputation for creating an ambience and environment that is very much a home away from home.

"Raffles Hospital is designed to provide our patients an aesthetically pleasing and tranquil environment to heal, recharge and rejuvenate," says General Manager, Mr Lawrence Lim.

Mr Lim, the former CEO of Singapore General Hospital, added: "All our rooms are designed and outfitted with hotel standards of comfort and furnishings. We have also streamlined our administrative processes to create a convenient one-stop service for our patients."

Raffles Hospital began operations on 31 March 2001, and is the flagship hospital of Raffles Medical Group (RMG). It complements RMG's network of 60 clinics located throughout the island, allowing a complete integration of primary with secondary and tertiary care.

RMG is one of Singapore's leading private healthcare providers. Since its founding 26 years ago, it has cared for almost a million Singaporeans. In addition to its extensive network of clinics in Singapore, it also operates 6 clinics in Hong Kong and a representative office in Indonesia.

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