COLLABORATIONS AND CONVERSIONS

To handle clinically-well COVID-19-positive patients post-screening, Yishun Health collaborated with Nee Soon Sports Centre to house these patients before they were transferred to Community Care Facilities. The futsal facility was converted into a 336-bed facility for this purpose. Thirty medical staff were deployed to man the site under a collaborative agreement with Fullerton Health Group (FH). Additionally, the owner of FutsalArena@Yishun offered the premises for the same purpose, while Tzu Chi Singapore opened its Humanistic Youth Centre as a conducive space for FH staff to eat, rest, and freshen up.

Multiple wards at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and Yishun Community Hospital (YCH) were converted into COVID-related and operationally-ready ICU wards to cope with the surging numbers of COVID-19 cases. Yishun Health’s clinicians from various departments worked closely with nursing leaders and Inpatient Services to adapt to new workflows and duties. More than 60 per cent of the wards in KTPH were progressively converted to meet the needs of the situation then — from a medical ward to a pre-swab ward, then to a mixed pre- and post-swab ward, and finally to a COVID-positive ward. At YCH, the team discharged its patients to the Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital so that all its beds could be used by COVID-19 patients.

Increasing critical care capacity and capabilities is a key priority of Yishun Health’s outbreak plans. A multidisciplinary team was formed to manage an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) surge if required. The plan was implemented when the number of COVID-19 cases rose in Singapore early last year. In April 2020, KTPH's 22-bed ICU capacity was progressively increased to 90 beds by converting wards and the Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit.