NUHCS Celebrates 15 Years As A National Heart Centre
To excellence in heart care and beyond!
PULSE Issue 42 | February 2024
Established in 2008 to meet anticipated growing demand for cardiovascular health services, we crossed our fifteenth year in 2023 – a momentous milestone as a National Centre in Singapore specialising in the treatment of the most challenging heart, lung and circulatory diseases. As we look forward to realise our vision, we continue to unlock innovations across clinical, surgical and research fronts, towards tackling cardiovascular diseases and improving patient outcomes.
Through many firsts – such as setting up of the nation’s first neighbourhood specialty cardiac clinic in Jurong Medical Centre (JMC), and advancing Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (UVATS)1 techniques that allows for lung surgery to be performed with just a single 3cm cut, we are synergising the way forward in the evolving field of cardiovascular disease management. Where research and care go hand in hand, our researchers continue to contribute to the international body of cardiovascular research with high-citation papers, with a few also garnering international accolades. As our people are hard at work making things better for our patients, the centre hopes to share this enthusiasm for patient care and reach further by empowering this sense of community.
Driven by a holistic approach, our vision sets out how we strive to balance the goals of bridging academia and practice, while going beyond providing treatment to foster early diagnosis and healthier living for the Singapore community.
We kickstarted our 15th year anniversary by celebrating this milestone with our people, who have been the heartbeat of NUHCS on this incredible journey. Each making a unique difference to patient care, our dedicated team of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, patient service associates, and support staff, came together for our yearly dinner and dance event on the evening of 28 April 2023, at the Conrad Centennial Singapore. Themed “Where Movie Characters Come To Life”, the gathering was kickstarted with various pre-event fringe highlights, such as penning of wishes for NUHCS’ journey of growth on a commemorative booth, and various group photo opportunities, as the evening unfolded into memorable moments of fun and camaraderie!
The first major in-person event since overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic as a healthcare institute, the 2023 Dinner & Dance was an important opportunity to honour the awe-inspiring efforts and resilience of our staff who fought on the front lines of the national healthcare challenge. NUHCS senior leaders took the lead in raising a toast to the hard work and dedication of all staff, while also shining the light on their varied inspiring contributions beyond their professional duties.
Taking the excellent opportunity to reflect and revitalise as we embrace the future, NUHCS is proud of the progress made by the Caring Hearts Support Group (CHSG) - a voluntary intiative by cardiac patients of NUHCS and their caregivers - which marks it own 5th anniversary in March 2023.
Showcasing the power of a support system, CHSG's unwavering efforts have empowered many of NUHCS' heart warriors, as well as their caregivers, to navigate through the tough time of living with a heart condition. Driven by the motto of "No member walks alone", CHSG aims to bring positive impacts to the lives of heart patients and the community. They provide emotional and psychological support to individuals navigating their healing journey from cardiac diseases, fostering a circle of nurturing support and encouragement among one another.
Beyond the celebration of friendship and nudging each other towards heart health progress, CHSG members also found strength and empowerment in connecting and caring for the silver generation and other segments of society, by taking part in various efforts including Patient Advocate Conferences, Focus Group Discussions and volunteering at ElderCare Centres, as well as embracing meaningful exchanges with similar cardiac focused support groups in the region.
As we continue to pursue excellence in clinical research and care delivery, we are honoured to be awarded Newsweek's World's Best Specialised Hospitals in 2022, 2023 and 2024 - ranking top in Singapore for Cardiac Surgery for three consecutive years.
We put our hearts into transforming heart health from both inside (the body) and outside (the community). This can only be done with partnership from all our stakeholders who inspire us onwards!
- A/Prof James Yip, Executive Director, National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS)
Catch our people in action in this NUHCS 15th anniversary commemorative video!
