As Singapore surges ahead with amalgamation of latest technologies in the medical field to improve patient care, Woodlands Health Campus (WHC), the first hospital in Woodlands, will employ artificial intelligence and robotics to help patients.
The campus will have an 1800-bed facility and will be finally opened in 2022. It is located at 17, Woodlands Drive and will be the size of 11 football fields and serve more than 935,000 residents. It will feature an integrated acute and community hospital, specialist outpatient clinics and a long-term care facility.
The ground-breaking ceremony was organised on Tuesday. Speaking at the event, Gan Kim Yong, Health Minister of Singapore, said, “The use of smart technology will raise the bar for patient care and the development of new care models towards greater community-based care -two areas he hoped to see the healthcare complex pioneer.”
He added, “It will enable patients to be treated and rehabilitated effectively in the appropriate setting so that they can return home to their loved ones as soon as possible.”
Doctors will make use of artificial intelligence to make sense of large amounts of data quickly which will help them to improve diagnostic accuracy and provide cheaper, better and faster care.
Nurses will use electronic wristbands similar to smart watches which will help in monitoring patients' conditions in the hospital and after they return home.
The hospital will also provide features which will help in tracking the schedules of patients such as rehabilitation therapy sessions and medication times. The hospital will also have built-in sensors to conduct real-time monitoring of patients heartbeats and sleep patterns.
The robotics will automate back-end logistics such as food services, housekeeping and the central sterile supplies unit to free up more time for staff to attend to the personal needs of patients
Several hospital services will also be brought online such as check-in and registration, filling in medical information, ordering medication and payment so that patients can complete such procedures in their own homes.
