They made sure the new SGH Emergency/NNI Building on SGH Campus happened.
Let’s meet some of the people who make sure such new major facilities are completed according to our requirements. They are members of the Commissioning Secretariat who have varied work experiences.
Phase 1 of the new SGH Emergency/NNI Building on SGH Campus commenced operations in December 2024. It is a project 10 years in the making, from the time we got the go-ahead to commence planning.
In this initial phase, two Acute Medical Wards with 84 beds have opened, alongside Pharmacy and Radiology services as well as a 26-bed ward to hold Emergency Department patients who are awaiting admissions. When Phase 2 is fully operational, the building will house the SGH Emergency Department, specialist outpatient clinics as well as offices. It is also home to the Campus Utilities Plant where electrical power and chilled water supply to the entire Campus.
SGH uses the Commissioning Secretariat (aka Comm Sec) on various infrastructure projects as a training ground to groom young people who join the hospital as administrators, under our Healthcare Management Executive (HME) scheme. They learn various aspects of hospital planning and project management and some of them switch over to the user side for new insights while bridging with the project team.
Let’s meet some of the people who make sure such new major facilities are completed according to our requirements. They are members of the Comm Sec team (present and past) who have varied work experiences.
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1. The BOSS Raphael Heng, Director, Facilities Development & Infrastructure (FDI), leads the team. As the Project Director, he provides advice and direction for Comm Sec to meet the project milestones and objectives.
2. Chen Dejun, Senior Manager, FDI. He does Quality Assurance/Quality Checks to ensure that the contractors' work are done correctly and safely. He is also the coordinator for external works and inspects the various areas within the building to ensure they are fit for handover to us.
3. Yue Feng, Senior Project Executive, FDI, assists Dejun in QA/QC. He also interacts with the support ops teams such as Facilities Maintenance, Environmental Services and Security to takeover Phase 1 and prepare for Phase 2 inspections.
4. Tony Oon, Deputy Director, FDI. As the person overseeing the overall contractors’ progress, he plays a very critical role. He also manages external works related to the new building, such as the link bridge connection with the OCH link bridge and the Hospital Decontamination Station platform that spans across the Level 3 entrance of the new building with the existing SGH Emergency Department.
5. The SAFETY GUY, who holds the power of issuing stop-work orders is David Lam, Assistant Director, Biological Safety. In addition to looking after the rest of SGH, David is also the ‘Safety Consultant’ for the new building. He provides useful insights on hospital operational aspects of safety, such as isolation room air pressure regime and ventilation planning, patient and staff workflows. He also works with our infection control and radiation safety colleagues.
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6. Koh Wei Yi was one of the administrators being groomed through our Healthcare Management Executive Unit. After a stint with Comm Sec, she moved on to become
Assistant Manager with Department of Emergency Medicine Operations (DEM Ops), where she used her knowledge of project planning and management to bridge her role as a representative of the user, looking into the workflows of the Emergency Department in the new facility. She has since moved on to support the hospital’s transition to the new Epic electronic medical records system.
7. Lau Ming Yan is another alumni of the Comm Sec who is currently Manager in Specialist Outpatient Clinic Operations (SOC Ops). With Neuroscience clinic operating in the new building, SOC Ops is also a major user. Ming Yan is also from the Healthcare Mgmt Executive Unit.
8. FUND MANAGER Chew Hsiu Chin, Manager, FDI. She oversees the approved budget and utilisation for items directly procured by SGH for the new building. In particular, she has worked closely with users in the setting up of the Acute Medical Wards at Levels 6-9. Hsiu Chin started off as a Healthcare Management Executive planning the upcoming Elective Care Centre in 2015, followed by a rotation to Strategy Management & Analytics, before joining the Comm Sec in 2022 for the implementation and operational stages. She has grown in her capacity at work and at home -a busy mummy of boys.
9. Dawn Koh, Executive, FDI. She works with users on procurement of furniture and equipment, security requirements and interior design of their premises. She also work with users and project consultants to ensure signage and wayfinding are properly planned within the building.
10. THE CONTROL TOWER ARCHITECT Nicole Tay, Manager, FDI. An architect who was previously with the project consultant, she switched over to join SGH. She advises on design-related aspect of the project and checks that the building complies with regulatory authorities requirements such as the Building Construction Authority and the Fire Safety Department of the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
She’s also the “Control Tower” for planning of inspections with users and contractors. She has worked with various stakeholders to coordinate and implement the wayfinding signages.
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11. Carolyn Wi, Manager, FDI. Works with users on support ops workflows, such as delivery routes for food, pharmacy and other supplies, as well as IT infrastructure in the new building. She coordinated with the support ops teams for the trial runs leading to Phase 1 opening. She is also currently working on capital grants and tender calling for contractors to implement improvement works to the building.
12. NURSING SUPREMO Chiang Juat Lan. The Deputy Director Nursing started out as user rep for Nursing before she got co-opted into Comm Sec to look into infrastructural requirements from Nursing perspectives, such as the support operations like delivery of supplies, food and IT infrastructure to the wards. In particular, she worked with the respective Nursing Leads for the fulldress rehearsals in the wards before services began. In preparation for the MOH Licensing & Accreditation audits necessary for new facilities, Juat Lan applied her decades of experience to act as Auditor during the mock audits.
13. THE FACE of this Comm Sec. Terence Poh, Manager, FDI, joined SGH in 2015 just in time to be posted to the Comm Sec at its inauguration. Unlike the other members, he has stayed on this team as the longest serving member, and is determined to see it through till it is fully operational.
His main role currently is to work with users to set up the new Emergency Department and ancillary services spanning Levels 3-5.
Previously a Process Engineer in the semi-conductor industry, Terence has learnt to work with many parties – users, internal stakeholders, vendors, external project consultants and contractors. He got up to speed on a wide range of matters, from construction to MOH funding, as well as hospital operations.
During this period, he moved into his matrimonial flat, where he found his knowledge at work handy when selecting materials and dealing with contractors.
The Hospital Decontamination System platform in the new building is closest to his heart, as he is a Decon member who has been drilled to respond to a mass casualty incident involving people exposed to biohazard materials. “The system has been given a major upgrade - with 8 lanes for us to clean the casualties on trolley beds, up from the current 3. This makes it less claustrophobic for the crew as well, and will help us to perform our duties in a more civil and effective manner.”
14. Wendy Yue was one of the HMEs who started first in the Materials Management Department before her rotation to Comm Sec. With her knowledge and experience in MMD, she took lead in working with internal stakeholders for procurement of furniture and equipment in SGH Emergency/NNI Building before she got posted to General Services where she represented the Support Ops. After completing this stint with the Ops team and building project, Wendy has moved on to join SGH Division of Population Health and Integrated Care.
15. Muhammad Razmy, Executive, FDI. Worked with Synapxe to set up the Campus Server Room in EMB. He is currently working with users to set up the new outpatient clinics and mortuary.
