Restructured
As a result of a restructuring exercise in the local healthcare scene, the hospital became a member of the National Healthcare Group in 2000.
Because of the large number of patients confined in IMH, the hospital went into the red for 7 million dollars in 2001. In March 2002, Kua Ee Hock was replaced by Leong Yew Meng as the CEO of IMH. The hospital then strove to transfer patients out to community care facilities in an effort to cut costs. It started initially with a trial programme to shift 500 mainly-schizophrenic patients to Pelangi Village. These patients had been with the Hospital for many years, but were deemed mentally stable after treatment and regular medication. The Village comprised six homes and a central activity centre for the mentally ill and destitute in Buangkok Green; this was set up by the then Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. These homes were managed by seven voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) caring for these patients and their activities in the Village. The hospital ultimately discharged about 900 patients over the next 2 years.
The VWOs will set up operations within the IMH campus, and assist IMH doctors in monitoring their conditions and their medication in the Village. The initiative saw great success which helped to lessen the workload by their medical staff, so that they can engage in preventive programmes in the community. These programmes include detecting and prevent mental illness early, and preventive services for existing patients such as home care services for patients who default on treatment, and treatment in polyclinics and satellite clinics.
In April 2006, the Woodbridge Hospital compound was marked as Singapore's 83rd historic site by the National Heritage Board (NHB). IMH also set up a museum to showcase artefacts from the hospital's history. The site was marked and the museum officially opened by Minister for Health Khaw Boon Wan on 10 April 2006.
Today, The Institute of Mental Health sits on a sprawling 450,000 square metre site in the Buangkok Green Medical Park at Buangkok since its establishment in 1993. It houses 1,700 in-patients under the care of 80 doctors, and takes on a proactive approach to helping people deal with mental problems. The Institute runs an eight-week in-patient rehabilitation programme coaching patients to deal with everyday life problems, to socialise and how to conduct themselves at job interviews. They have also undertaken a national drive to educate the public and de-stigmatise mental illness, by running public awareness campaigns at shopping malls and working with school counsellors and voluntary welfare groups to spot problems early with their wards.
Read more about this topic: Institute Of Mental Health (Singapore)