Alexandra Hospital

Alexandra Hospital (Abbreviation: AH; Chinese: 亚历山大医院) is a 400-bed hospital located in the south-western part of Singapore. Nestled in a 110,000 square metre land, the hospital is a picture of tranquil setting, lined with mostly colonial style buildings built since the late 1930s. It was also the site of a massacre during World War II.

History

Established in 1938, the hospital served as the principal hospital for the British in the Far East and was known as the British Military Hospital. During the Battle of Singapore in February 1942, the hospital was the scene of a massacre by Japanese soldiers of the wounded British and some of the medical staff. After World War II to the 1970s, Alexandra Hospital remained as one of the most modern hospitals in Singapore right to the 1970s.

In its heyday, Alexandra Hospital was an institution that adopted cutting-edge medical technology and was the first hospital in Southeast Asia to successfully perform limb re-attachment to a patient. Alexandra Hospital possessed several well-known medical expertise. These include:
* Sir Roy Calne, an international renowned transplant surgeon
* Major A.P. Dignan, a world famous transplant surgeon and professor of Surgery in the University of Cambridge, Clinical School
* Sir Weatherakk, Regius professor of medicine and Honorary Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at University of Oxford

The hospital was handed over to the government of Singapore in 1971 and remained as Alexandra Hospital. On 1 October 2000, the hospital became a member of the National Healthcare Group when it underwent major upgrading of its facilities.

In 2001, plans were made to move to a new hospital in Jurong by 2006 [http://www.parliament.gov.sg/reports/public/hansard/full/20020325/20020325_HR.htm] [ [http://www.geraldtan.com/medaffairs/hospitals-jgh_ngh_ygh.html Ministry of National Development, Launch of Draft Master Plan 2003 (West Region)] ] . However, in 2004, these plans were scrapped in favour of a move to a new 500-bed hospital in Yishun to be called Northern General Hospital, by March 28 2009. [ [http://www.alexhosp.com.sg/topics_speech_17march04.asp Alexandra Hospital ] ] [Straits Times, 23 Mar 2004, [http://www.geraldtan.com/medaffairs/hospitals-jgh_ngh_ygh.html#5 400-bed hospital for the north in Yishun Central] ] .(This hospital in Yishun is not to be confused with another new hospital planned for nearby Woodlands, which was announced in March 06, on the basis that Northern General would not be enough to serve people living in the north. [Straits Times, 27 Mar 2006, [http://www.geraldtan.com/medaffairs/hospitals-jgh_ngh_ygh.html#7 New general hospital to be built in Woodlands] ] )

On May 16 2007, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan while attending the HIMSS AsiaPac 2007 conference announced that the new general hospital in Yishun has been named Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. [Yahoo News Singapore, 17 May 2007, [http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070517/5/singapore276541.html New hospital in Yishun named Khoo Teck Puat Hospital] ] The family of late Mr Khoo Teck Puat had donated S$125 million towards building and funding the hospital. The new hospital would be different from other hospitals as it promises to put patients first and aims to minimise bureaucracy and paperwork. Parts of the new facility are scheduled to open in early 2010 as the incidents of Indonesian sand ban and disruption to granite supplies had contributed to the delay of the ongoing construction. Imports of sand from Indonesia, necessary for construction of concrete buildings, was suspended in 2007 officially due to Indonesian environmental concerns but rumoured to be due to an attempt to influence Singapore into signing an extradition treaty with Indonesia. [ [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070512a2.html Indonesia sand ban slows builders in Singapore | The Japan Times Online ] ]

Gardens

There are gardens surrounding the hospital which include 500 plant species and over 100 butterfly species in the butterfly trail. Members of nature societies have used the hospital gardens as a study ground. The gardens were upgraded in 2000 under the direction of Ms. Rosalind Tan, a senior executive at the hospital’s operations department, who was recognised for her contributions towards environmental sustainability under the inaugural EcoFriend Award, awarded by the National Environment Agency (NEA) in June, 2007. [ [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/282365/1/.html Channelnewsasia.com ] ]

In the gardens is a commemorative plaque honouring the brave soldiers and staff who were killed while defending the hospital in 1942. Some of the dead were victims of a Japanese counteroffensive where Japanese forces overran the hospital and executed staff and patients.

References

External links

* [http://www.alexhosp.com.sg Alexandra Hospital Official website]