Board for National University Health System (NUHS)

28 Feb 2008

As announced in October 2007, the Government has decided to unify the governance of National University Hospital (NUH), the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS-YLL SoM), and the NUS Faculty of Dentistry (NUS-FoD). The new joint entity has been named National University Health System (NUHS). It will have a combined mission of clinical service, education and research.

The National Healthcare Group (NHG) and NUS have formed a joint venture, called NUHS, which will oversee the operations of NUH, the NUS YLL SoM and NUS-FoD. A Board has been appointed, for a period of 3 years, to guide the strategic direction of NUHS. The Board is chaired by Mr Lim Yong Wah and includes the Permanent Secretary of Health as well as members with extensive expertise in law, finance and HR. Prof Tan Chorh Chuan - Chief Executive of NUHS - is also a member of the Board. NUHS will work with its stakeholders - namely, NHG and NUS, and the overseeing Ministries, Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Education (MOE) - to ensure that its strategic plans, mission, and key performance indicators are aligned to stakeholders' objectives. Beyond that, the Board will have sufficient autonomy to decide how best it should achieve its tripartite mission of clinical service, research and education and to ensure financial sustainability. Please refer to the Annex for the full list of the members of the Board. NUHS will continue to be a member of NHG, and an integral part of NUS.

With the unification of governance, the Board and the Chief Executive will work with management and staff to develop a common vision and goals, manage the allocation of resources, and develop common human resource, budgetary and administrative systems which would allow successful implementation. The Board and Chief Executive will also have the flexibility to allocate its streams of funds from both MOH and MOE to achieve optimal outcomes.

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, Chief Executive of NUHS, highlighted that "the formation of NUHS is a historic and strategically important initiative for NUS, NUH and for Singapore. The close linkage between research and clinical care which NUHS will enable, will result in "home-grown" innovations and advances which will help advance health and healthcare. It will also enhance the learning environment and opportunities for our students. NUHS is very fortunate to have a Board with such an extraordinary wealth of experience from both the public and private sectors, and who are so strongly committed to making it a success."

Professor Shih Choon Fong, NUS President, said that "NUHS is a strategic partnership leveraging the complementary strengths of NHG and NUS. With the breadth and depth of expertise and experience represented on its Board, NUHS promises to realize even greater synergies in clinical care as well as medical education and research."

Mr Michael Lim, Chairman of NHG Board, noted that the unification of governance "brings synergies in clinical care, research and education under one Board -this should lead to better clinical care and outcomes, more impactful research and leadership in medical education. NHG will on its part provide the necessary support."

Ministry of Health

Ministry of Education

26 February 2008

Annex