Ergonomics for hospitals

SINGAPORE'S newly built hospitals are changing the way we think of hospitals. From hotel standard fittings and single-bed wards to landscaped gardens and koi ponds, and ambient lighting in operating rooms, hospitals need no longer have crowded lobbies or be associated with harsh lights and disinfectant smells.

As Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital CEO Kelvin Loh explains, the hospital did consult with architects specialised in hospital design for its new building - Singapore's first private greenfield hospital in 30 years. "But much of the new hospital's design and logistics flow was due to our own group of doctors and local architects sitting down week after week to iron out the details," he says.

Chew Kwee Tiang, CEO of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, says that having the opportunity to build a hospital from scratch was great. "We get to put in a lot of ideas, and design the hospital the way we want to: how to have the patients move around easily and making the environment conducive for family visits."