MEDIA RELEASE

Changi General Hospital Establishes the Lee Yong Kiat Faculty Professorship in Academic Healthcare Leadership and Medical Humanities in Celebration of 90th Anniversary

Pioneer interdisciplinary professorship honours one of Singapore’s founding clinician's legacy in advancing holistic patient care

Singapore, 22 November 2025 – Changi General Hospital (CGH) today announced the establishment of the Lee Yong Kiat Faculty Professorship in Academic Healthcare Leadership and Medical Humanities. As Singapore’s first faculty professorship of its kind in the combined field, the professorship recognises that the leadership, practice, and delivery of medicine in the current healthcare system requires not just high intellect but a humanistic frame of mind and ethos.

Named in memory of the late Professor Lee Yong Kiat, one of Singapore medicine's pioneering giants, and a CGH luminary, the professorship honours his legacy as a master clinician, educator, mentor, and medical historian. As a physician trained in both medicine and law, he exemplified holistic healthcare leadership and championed the integration of scientific excellence with person-centred care.

The Lee Yong Kiat Faculty Professorship in Academic Healthcare Leadership and Medical Humanities was launched at CGH’s 90th anniversary dinner and dance event, graced by Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, and joined by distinguished alumni, healthcare leaders, community and corporate partners, and CGH colleagues. The celebration marks CGH's journey from its founding in 1935 to become a trusted public healthcare institution today.

The professorship, made possible by an endowment from philanthropic funding, aims to recognise and support emerging healthcare leaders in pursuing research and innovation in academic healthcare leadership and medical humanities, strengthening the faculty pipeline for the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre.

Clinical Professor Ng Kee Chong, Chief Executive Officer, CGH, said: "Professor Lee Yong Kiat represented the very best of what it means to be a physician and leader. This faculty professorship will ensure that his values and vision continue to nurture and shape healthcare leaders who understand that healthcare excellence requires both high intelligence and empathy – integrating scientific, clinical excellence with the art of healing with a human heart, and a commitment to nurturing future generations.”

Over the course of his distinguished career, the late Professor Lee Yong Kiat served as a physician and leader at public hospitals such as Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the former Kandang Kerbau Hospital, and Singapore General Hospital.

From 1971 to 1988, he served as Chief and Clinical Professor of Medicine at Toa Payoh Hospital, where he taught medical and dental undergraduates and postgraduates, grooming a whole generation of healthcare leaders. His work at Toa Payoh Hospital was also instrumental in laying the foundation for medical care and clinical teaching that would later become integral to CGH's identity, when Toa Payoh Hospital merged with Changi Hospital in 1997 to form the present-day Changi General Hospital.

A Trusted Care Partner, Innovating Healthcare for Tomorrow

CGH’s rich legacy of healthcare innovations and care excellence is chronicled in the hospital’s 90th anniversary coffee table book titled ‘Together, We Flourish: 90 Years of Innovative Care’, which was launched at the evening’s celebration. Inspired by the historic Changi Tree, the publication traces CGH’s remarkable journey from its humble beginnings rooted in heritage, to its branches of care that extend throughout the community, culminating in its seeds of innovation that shape tomorrow's healthcare.

Featuring engaging stories from past and present staff, the book celebrates healthcare professionals who are dedicated to continuous learning, embrace innovation, and practise compassionate, patient-centred care – qualities that define CGH as the Caring General Hospital.

Beyond these personal stories, the book documents CGH's evolution into a comprehensive healthcare campus with established centres of excellence. From award-winning community care programmes to advancing research, innovation and education (RIE), CGH has expanded its expertise across diverse healthcare fields, including emergency medicine, sport and exercise medicine, geriatric medicine, orthopaedic surgery and endocrinology, among others. To serve unique patient populations, CGH also pioneered specialised services in aviation medicine, to better care for Singapore’s aviation professionals, and correctional medicine, to safely provide prison inmates with the same standards of holistic care as community-based patients.

These specialisations reflect CGH's commitment to meeting Singapore’s evolving healthcare needs, further exemplified by emerging clinical programmes with a holistic care approach:

Advanced awake spinal surgery: The CGH-NNI Integrated Spine Centre embarked on Singapore’s first awake, robot-assisted, minimally invasive techniques for spinal fusion surgery in July 2025. Conducted under regional and local anaesthesia which allows the patient to remain awake and lucid, the surgery aims to improve surgical precision while avoiding the risks associated with general anaesthesia and open surgery, leading to faster recovery and better patient outcomes.

Next-generation wound care: CGH has introduced an AI-powered Wound Care Management Mobile App that transforms conventional wound assessments through automated measurement. Leveraging 3D imaging technology and machine learning capabilities, the app delivers precise measurements and depth estimation of patients’ wounds, while establishing standardised photography protocols for consistent documentation over time. This innovation not only enhances clinical accuracy and reduces patient discomfort from invasive assessment procedures, but also empowers nursing teams across all departments to deliver wound care management with greater confidence and efficiency.

Advanced diagnostic capabilities and clinical research for hypertension: The Shimadzu-CGH Clinomics Centre (SC³), a public-private partnership between CGH and Shimadzu (Asia Pacific), is a clinical laboratory service that has revolutionised hypertension diagnosis and research. Harnessing the technology of liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry and powered by artificial intelligence, clinical tests are processed locally at the SC³ to better identify patients with salt-sensitive and adrenal hypertension, reducing turnaround time for lab test results to just three to five days. With more than 7,300 tests conducted since the centre's launch in 2021, doctors can now identify cases of primary aldosteronism earlier and offer timely interventions and personalised treatment for patients.

Supported by the SC³, CGH is also contributing to population health research to identify social, environmental, lifestyle and genetic factors associated with chronic diseases, such as hypertension and obesity, with a focus on how these conditions manifest differently across Singapore's diverse ethnic groups.

Holistic healing approaches: CGH has expanded its integrative medicine offerings, incorporating traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practices, such as acupuncture, and innovative nature therapy programmes that address patients' physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.

Transforming campus spaces for evolving needs: CGH will also be carrying out works to its hospital campus over the next few years to expand capacity, enhance care facilities, and advance care to meet the healthcare needs of the community.

“The healthcare landscape is more volatile and complex than ever, but as CGH enters our tenth decade of service, we are poised and ready for the challenges ahead. These emerging areas of focus – be it new clinical programmes, research and innovation, or the adoption of robotics and artificial intelligence – reflect our mission to advance healthcare for tomorrow, aligned with the nation’s Healthier SG goal of lifelong health,” added Clin Prof Ng Kee Chong.

Read the CGH 90th anniversary coffee table book ‘Together, We Flourish: 90 Years of Innovative Care’ here.

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 Photo 1: CGH established the Lee Yong Kiat Faculty Professorship in Academic Healthcare Leadership and Medical Humanities in celebration of its 90th anniversary.

  Photo 2: Launch of the CGH 90th anniversary commemorative coffee table book, titled ‘Together, We Flourish: 90 Years of Innovative Care’, which chronicles the hospital’s nine-decade journey of advancing care excellence.

 Photo 3: Presentation of a painting that honours the historic Changi Tree that once grew in the vicinity of the old Changi Hospital, signifying CGH’s enduring legacy of care for the community.