SingHealth’s inaugural fundraising campaign to commemorate 200 years of medicine in Singapore, in conjunction with Singapore General Hospital’s bicentennial, exceeds $200 million goal.
In 2019, SingHealth embarked on an ambitious fundraising campaign to raise $200 million for the advancement of medicine. The funds raised would support a wide range of causes including medical research, education and patient care programmes across SingHealth institutions.
The campaign was later expanded to bolster the well-being of healthcare professionals and build resilience especially during times of health emergencies, when COVID-19 exerted a huge strain on healthcare professionals and system.
Dubbed ‘MedSG200 Fundraising Campaign’, the target amount of $200 million was in conjunction with the cluster-wide commemoration of the nation’s first hospital, Singapore General Hospital’s (SGH) bicentennial in 2021.
By April 2022, the campaign had crossed its goal, raising more than $226 million which will undoubtedly pave the way to transform medicine for future generations. The symbolic cheque presentation, witnessed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, took place during the 27th SGH Lecture and Formal Dinner 2022 last month.
Prof Tan Ser Kiat, Chairman, SingHealth Fund and Mr Tony Chew, Member of the MedSG200 Fundraising Committee and Chair of the SGH Fund Committee presented the contribution to Mr Cheung Wai Keung, Chairman, SingHealth, Prof Ivy Ng, Group CEO, SingHealth Group and Prof Kenneth Kwek, CEO, SGH.
Transforming the delivery of care
Among many transformational gifts garnered as part of the campaign are those that support population health initiatives with the aim to improve the healthspan of Singaporeans from birth, to enable them to live longer, healthier lives.
A generous gift from the Lien Foundation allowed the establishment of a new model of care through the Healthy Early Life Moments in Singapore (HELMS) study, with the ultimate aim of improving maternal and child health and wellbeing outcomes. HELMS will adopt an interactive and personalised approach to engage, support and guide women through the most crucial period of developmental opportunity from preconception, pregnancy and early post-natal life until the child reaches 18 months.
To tackle challenges of a rapidly ageing population and decreasing old age support ratio, the SGH Population Health and Integrated Care Office (PHICO) is now able to make new strides through the establishment of the Healthy, Empowered, and Active Living (HEAL) Fund. The HEAL Fund allows PHICO to transform care models by delivering practical solutions supported by population health research, education, and innovation. Robust community networks developed through the HEAL Fund will ensure that the most vulnerable segments of our population are well supported.
Donors and supporters also understood the importance of building resilience among our staff so that they can, in turn, give the best care to patients who entrust their health to us. The Resilience in Crisis Fund has allowed SingHealth to provide supplementary assistance to staff whose personal circumstances have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, alleviating their mental and emotional burden. The Joy at Work Fund has also allowed us to support ground-up initiatives aimed at encouraging self and team-care, and boosting overall physical and mental well-being of staff.
Paying gratitude to those who pledged their support
As a public healthcare cluster that serves more than half of the nation’s healthcare needs, philanthropic dollars complement research grants and government assistance schemes to enable us to push the boundaries of medicine to impact more lives. Philanthropic funding is a key driver in enabling SingHealth to accelerate the search for new treatments and cures, transfer new knowledge to younger generations of medical professionals and support patients in need to have a peace of mind to focus on their recovery journey.
The MedSG200 fundraising campaign brought together all SingHealth institutions in a common goal as we strive towards our vision of defining tomorrow’s medicine.
“Each gift fuels the hope of healthier generations to come, as we relentlessly pursue medical breakthroughs, nurture talents and raise the bar in patient care. We are very fortunate to have the support of many like-minded individuals and organisations who share in our vision. We are deeply grateful,” said Professor Ivy Ng, Group Chief Executive Officer, SingHealth.
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Giving & Philanthropy