Singapore General Hospital

The Singapore General Hospital (abbrev: SGH; Chinese: 新加坡中央医院; Hospital Besar Singapura; சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய மருத்துவமனை) is the largest and oldest hospital in Singapore, of which the foundation of its first building was laid in 1821.

The Singapore Health Services hospital occupies sprawling grounds at Outram Park, sharing space with four specialist medical centres, namely the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), the National Heart Centre (NHC), the National Cancer Centre (NCC) and the National Dental Centre (NDC).

History
The Singapore General Hospital was established in 1821, when the first General Hospital was located in the cantonment for British troops near the Singapore River. It later shifted to Pearl's Bank and then to the Kandang Kerbau district, before finally settling at Sepoy Lines in Outram Road in 1882.

The modern history of Singapore General Hospital began on 29 March 1926, with the opening of 800 beds in the Bowyer, Stanley and Norris Blocks. Today, only the Bowyer Block with its historically distinctive clock tower remains. The Bowyer Block is now home to the Singapore General Hospital Museum (SGH Museum).

In 1981, the hospital was rebuilt, with its current 8-block complex housing in-patient wards, ambulatory and support services, research laboratories and a postgraduate medical institute.

On 1 April 1989, the hospital was restructured, in an effort to modernise the organisation of the hospital, due to rapidly developing changes in healthcare services and patient expectations for better service. As a restructured hospital, the Singapore General Hospital is still 100 per cent government-owned and is a not-for-profit institution. More than 60 per cent of the beds are allocated for subsidised patients, giving them access to an internationally-established standard of affordable healthcare.

On 31 March 2000, following a major reorganisation of the public sector healthcare services initiated by the Ministry of Health, the Singapore General Hospital came under the management of Singapore Health Services or SingHealth. The SingHealth Group currently serves the eastern sector of Singapore through a cluster network of 4 hospitals, 5 specialist centres and 7 polyclinics.

The SGH Museum
The Singapore General Hospital Museum is a repository of artefacts and records, where visitors can trace the long and rich history of the Singapore General Hospital. It is also a place where one can learn about the development of medical specialties and medical education in Singapore, presented with the aid of audio-visual and multimedia technology.

The SGH Museum was officially opened by President Sellapan Ramanathan on 20 May 2005. The museum adopts a thematic approach in presenting the hospital's long history, where visitors get not just an insight into the significant developments of the hospital through the years, but also an understanding of the impact these incidents have on the people and the community.