Thomson Medical Centre
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Thomson Medical Centre Limited ( Abbreviation: TMC) is a 190-bed private hospital located at Thomson Road in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. The hospital specialises in gynaecology and
in vitro fertilisation In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
(IVF). Thomson Medical Centre runs a 24-hour outpatient family clinic, as well as a range of specialist clinics.


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. 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 Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
. 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.


Customer-Centric Initiative

The staff of Thomson Medical Centre are also known as Thomson Angels and are recognised for being “cheerful, responsive and attentive.” In 2008, Thomson Medical Centre embarked on the Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI) which was spearheaded by
SPRING Singapore The Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board ( abbreviation: SPRING Singapore) was a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Singapore Government. It worked as an agency for enterprise development, and helped enterp ...
. The medical centre topped the CCI rankings in the
healthcare industry The healthcare industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, ...
and achieved a 93% patient satisfaction level in 2009.


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. The General Manager of Thomson Medical Centre, Mrs Mega Shuen, shared that the health and safety of their patients are their top priority.


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.


In-vitro fertilisation (IVF)

Thomson Medical Centre is the first private hospital in Singapore to set up an
In-vitro fertilisation In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
clinic on its premises. In 1988, the hospital delivered Singapore's first IVF
triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bi ...
. 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. In 1989, Thomson Medical Centre delivered Asia's first set of surviving IVF
quadruplets A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bir ...
, 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.


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. Thomson Medical Centre however was acquired by investor
Peter Lim Peter Lim (born 21 May 1953) is a Singaporean business magnate who was a stockbroker, and is now a private investor who has invested in sectors ranging from palm oil to medicine. In 2019, Forbes ranked him as the 10th richest person in Singa ...
and subsequently delisted on 24 January 2011. The centre offers a range of maternity and baby items.


Milestones


IVF mix-up

In 2010, an IVF mix-up produced a baby with a different father's sperm. 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. 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'.


See also

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List of hospitals in Singapore The following is a list of hospitals in Singapore registered by the Ministry of Health. Acute hospitals Community hospitals Psychiatric hospital Upcoming hospitals *New hospital in Bedok North *Woodlands Health Campus Defunct hospital ...
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Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
*
International healthcare accreditation Due to the near-universal desire for safe and good quality healthcare, there is a growing interest in international healthcare accreditation. Providing healthcare, especially of an adequate standard, is a complex and challenging process. Healthca ...
*
Medical tourism Medical tourism refers to people traveling abroad to obtain medical treatment. In the past, this usually referred to those who traveled from less-developed countries to major medical centers in highly developed countries for treatment unavailable a ...


References


External links


Thomson Medical Centre Website
{{Singapore hospitals 1979 establishments in Singapore Companies formerly listed on the Singapore Exchange Hospitals in Singapore Novena, Singapore Hospitals established in 1979