BVH transfers all patients to make room for stable COVID-19 cases

15 April 2020

​Bright Vision Hospital will be able to take in about 200 coronavirus patients when fully operational. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

SINGAPORE – Bright Vision Hospital (BVH) in Yio Chu Kang Road has transferred about 110 of its patients to neighbouring community hospitals so that it can exclusively receive Covid-19 patients who are clinically stable but still require medical care.

Responding to queries by The Straits Times on Wednesday (April 15), a spokesman said that all of its existing patients were transferred to neighbouring Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital and Sengkang Community Hospital, with BVH receiving only Covid-19 patients.

BVH, which is managed by SingHealth Community Hospitals, will be able to take in about 200 coronavirus patients when fully operational.

Ms Margaret Lee, chief executive of SingHealth Community Hospitals, said: “This is to support the nation’s need to maximise the efficient use of hospital resources and allow our public healthcare system to better prepare and cope with a potential surge in new cases.”

Ms Lee said that BVH worked closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH), patients and care providers to transfer its existing patients to the other hospitals.

BVH medical staff have been trained to ensure they are equipped to care for Covid-19 patients, while stringent safety protocols and precautionary measures have been put in place to minimise the risk of transmission.

The community hospital started receiving patients last Saturday (April 11).

The other community hospital taking in Covid-19 cases is St Andrew’s Community Hospital (SACH) in Simei, which will be able to care for up to 60 of these patients.

A spokesman told ST that it started admitting Covid-19 patients on April 5 and designated two of its wards at its integrated building with Changi General Hospital (CGH) for these patients.

The move came after a request from CGH and the MOH.

The original patients in these wards were transferred to SACH’s main building.

The hospital’s clinical teams had already been practising heightened levels of infection control and undergone additional training before it admitted Covid-19 patients.

On Tuesday, the MOH said in its daily update that 1,316 patients – about half of the number of those still infected with the coronavirus – who are clinically well but test positive are being isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Since March, recovering Covid-19 patients have been transferred from government hospitals to private hospitals and community isolation facilities such as D’Resort NTUC in Pasir Ris and Singapore Expo.

On Tuesday, the multi-agency task force handling the Covid-19 outbreak said that about 450 patients recovering from Covid-19 are being housed in two halls at Singapore Expo, taking up almost half of their current capacity.

Four other halls at the building will open progressively.

Tomorrow’s Medicine, Covid19

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SOURCE: THE STRAITS TIMES SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION.