Thomson Medical Centre

Thomson Medical Centre Limited (Abbreviation: TMC) is a 190-bed private hospital located at Thomson Road in Singapore. The hospital specialises in gynaecology and in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Thomson Medical Centre runs a 24-hour outpatient family clinic, as well as a range of specialist clinics. [1][2][3]

Thomson Medical Centre
Thomson Medical Pte. Ltd
Geography
Location339 Thomson Road, Singapore 307677, Singapore
Coordinates1°19′31.47″N 103°50′29.23″E
Organisation
Care systemHospital
Services
Beds190
History
Opened1979 (1979)
Links
Websitehttp://www.thomsonmedical.com
ListsHospitals in Singapore

History

Thomson Medical Centre began operations in 1979. The founder, Dr Cheng Wei Chen, an Obstetrics & Gynaecology specialist, aimed to “make delivery an enjoyable experience for women” through his hospital.

The hospital was built on the grounds of Dr Cheng's wife's family bungalow and on a neighbouring parcel of land that used to house Yamaha Music School. Construction of the hospital took place over nine months in 1978, in collaboration with his brother and architect, William Cheng, while Dr Cheng still operated his practice from a small plot on-site. [4]

When Thomson Medical Centre became operational in 1979, they were the only private niche hospital for women and children in Singapore, specialising in obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics.[5]

The hospital expanded in the late 90s to include more clinics and other facilities.

In 2010 Thomson Medical Centre was bought by billionaire Peter Lim for around $400 million [6].

Customer-Centric Initiative

The staff of Thomson Medical Centre are also known as Thomson Angels and are recognised for being “cheerful, responsive and attentive.” [7] In 2008, Thomson Medical Centre embarked on the Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI) which was spearheaded by SPRING Singapore. The medical centre topped the CCI rankings in the healthcare industry and achieved a 93% patient satisfaction level in 2009. [8]

Baby Tagging Solution

In 2013, Thomson Medical Centre introduced the Baby Tagging Solution developed by Cadi Scientific, to ensure that newborns are correctly matched with their mothers. With this system, a mother and her baby are fitted with pre-matched tags upon their arrival at the maternity ward and when the baby is brought to his or her mother, the mother's tag will automatically verify if the baby is the correct one. If the tags do not match, a red light will flash on the mother's tag instead.[9] The General Manager of Thomson Medical Centre, Mrs Mega Shuen, shared that the health and safety of their patients are their top priority. [10]

Parentcraft Centre

Pre-birth care and parent coaching services are accessible through the Thomson Parentcraft Centre, where expectant mothers can learn to prepare for their experience during pregnancy and after delivery. [11][12]

In-vitro fertilisation (IVF)

Thomson Medical Centre is the first private hospital in Singapore to set up an In-vitro fertilisation clinic on its premises. In 1988, the hospital delivered Singapore's first IVF triplets. In the same year, the Thomson Fertility Clinic was set up. As of 2009, more than 5,000 couples have been treated for fertility and over 900 IVF babies have been born at their clinic. [13]

In 1989, Thomson Medical Centre delivered Asia's first set of surviving IVF quadruplets, delivered by Dr Cheng. The Tan quadruplets are born on Mother's Day and consist of three girls and a boy. Since 1990, fertility specialists have capped the number of implanted embryos at three, making the Tan quadruplets one of the last IVF quadruplets in Singapore.

In 1990, the hospital produced its first frozen embryo baby.

In 2000, they were the world's first fertility clinic to produce twins from frozen eggs and frozen sperm. [14]

Business Operations

Thomson Medical Centre was listed on the SGX-SESDAQ board in 2005, becoming the fourth healthcare services provider listed on SGX, after Parkway Holdings, Raffles Medical Group and Health Management International. [15] Thomson Medical Centre however was acquired by investor Peter Lim and subsequently delisted on 24 January 2011.[16][17]

The centre offers a range of maternity and baby items.[18]

Milestones
Selected milestones achieved:[19]
Year Achievements
2014 A medical centre exclusively for women, Thomson Well Women Clinic (TWWC) opens at Scotts Medical Center at Pacific Plaza [20]
2013 Thomson Medical Centre staff wins Singapore Health Quality Service Award [21]
2012 Launch of a new initiative, Thomson Confinement Food, where confinement food is provided to recuperating mothers after childbirth. [22]
2009
  • Set up Singapore's first private dedicated cancer centre focusing on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of breast, gynaecological and colorectal tumours in women
  • Winner of SPRING Singapore Excellent Service Award 2009 (EXSA)
  • Overall winner and winner of the Singapore Prestige Brand Award 2009 – Heritage Brand Category.
  • Singapore football player, Baihakki Khaizan, and Suria artiste, Norfasarie, welcomed their first child at Thomson Medical Centre [23]
2005 Admitted to the Official List of SGX SESDAQ.

IVF mix-up

In 2010, an IVF mix-up produced a baby with a different father's sperm.[24] Thomson Medical were fined the maximum S$20,000 for failing to ensure suitable assisted reproduction practices were followed, as well as being banned from new IVF for 8 months.[25] After a long-running case, in March 2017 the mother of the child was awarded 30% of the costs of bringing up the child, with whom she does not share a 'genetic affinity'.[25]

See also

References
  1. "Hospitals.SG Thomson Medical Centre (2012)". hospital.sg. Archived from the original on 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  2. "Thomson Medical About Us Overview (2012)". Thomson Medical Centre. Archived from the original on 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  3. "Thomson Medical Our Services Specialty Centres (2012)". Thomson Medical Centre. Archived from the original on 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  4. "Finding the old in the new – a walk down part of Thomson Road". The Long and Winding Road. Archived from the original on 2013-01-14. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  5. Keith G. Emuang. Shaping of a vision, Thomson Medical Centre : celebrating 30 years, 1979-2009. Thomson Medical Centre Ltd.
  6. "Forbes". Archived from the original on 2016-10-02. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  7. "Everything went right, thanks to Thomson Medical staff and gynaecologist (2012)". The Strait Times/Forum Letters. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  8. "SPRING News (2010) Bringing Service Excellence to Healthcare page 9" (PDF). Spring Singapore. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  9. "Thomson Medical Latest News TMC enhances infant security with baby tagging solution (2013)". thomsonmedical.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  10. "WhiteRock Medco Thomson Medical Enhances Infant Security with Cadi Scientific's Baby Tagging Solution (2013)". WhiteRock Medco Pte Ltd. Archived from the original on 2015-04-13. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  11. "Thomson Medical. Parentcraft Centre. (2012)". Thomson Medical. Archived from the original on 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  12. "Chew, Joan. (26 May 2011). More women opt for hypnobirthing". The Straits Times. ProQuest 868707727.
  13. "Singapore's first surviving IVF quadruplet (2009)". Singapore Infopedia. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  14. "Singapore's first surviving IVF quadruplet (2009)". Singapore Infopedia. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  15. "Chen, HuiFen. Thomson Medical aiming for birth on SGX (2004)". NewspaperSG. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  16. "Thomson Medical: Delisting From The Official List Of SGX-ST". ShareInvestor.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  17. "Thomson Medical: Delisting (Paragraph 2) (2011)". Singapore Exchange. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  18. "The rise of 5-star hospitals in Singapore". Today on line. 8 March 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-02-11. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  19. "Thomson Medical NewsRoom Annual Report (2010)" (PDF). Thomson Medical. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  20. "Thomson Medical Latest News Thomson Well Women Clinic is now open!(2014)". Thomson Medical. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  21. "TMC staff win Singapore Health Quality Service Award". Thomson Medical. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  22. "Thomson Medical. (2012). Thomson Confinement Food". Thomson Medical. Archived from the original on 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  23. "It's a boy for Lion Baihakki and wife (2009)". NewspaperSG. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  24. "Singapore medical centre in IVF sperm mix-up". The Daily Telegraph. London. 4 November 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-11-07. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  25. "IVF mix-up at Thomson Medical: A look back at the case of 'Baby P'". Archived from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
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