Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home had to deal with two Covid-19 incidents this year, but the first experience was starkly different from the second one.
In March, it became the first nursing home to report a coronavirus case at its branch off Thomson Road. At the peak of the crisis, there were 14 residents infected, and four of them later died.
The home's administrator, Mr Then Kim Yuan, who was working from home at the time, said that with all staff and residents quarantined, it was a difficult situation to manage.
Then in August, a former staff member tested positive after returning home to the Philippines.
Although the person was asymptomatic, 90 staff and residents at the home's Silat branch - where the person had worked - were swabbed. Nobody tested positive.
This time, armed with the lessons learnt from March, the home's processes were smoother, said Mr Then.
When the first case was identified on March 31, he said, business continuity plans were thrown out the window, as all staff were under quarantine.
Said Mr Then: "It was a whole new experience for all of us. Whatever workflow processes from our emergency preparedness exercises that we had previously formulated with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) could not work.
"I had to identify my priorities at that point - health and safety, service continuity and staying in touch with the residents' family members."
He fielded hundreds of phone calls from anxious family members and worked round the clock to liaise with the authorities.
After the resident tested positive, MOH and AIC representatives visited the home and stayed until 4am. They were back again at 7am.
It was a period of time that felt overwhelming not just for the residents, but also the staff, who felt physically and mentally drained.
Infected residents were admitted to Singapore General Hospital and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, and the home had to deal with calls from the two healthcare institutions for the residents' medical records and other information.
With hindsight, Mr Then said, shared electronic medical records would have helped, but the push towards digitalisation had taken a back seat after the healthcare sector faced several cyber-attack incidents in recent years.
In August, when the former worker tested positive, the way things were handled was different, said Mr Then. For instance, within two hours of notifying the authorities, a conference call was set up and instructions were given out.
"The procedures and protocols were so seamless. It was different from the March episode, where we had to find a way forward, try to fit the solutions and deal with things as they came along."
Mr Then said he found he could take a step back in August as his team was able to handle the incident and put in motion their revised business continuity plan.
Beyond the pandemic, the home plans to explore more digital solutions, such as remote monitoring, which will be useful for residents with higher care needs.
It is also merging its vital signs monitoring system with its electronic medical records, which will improve efficiency.
Goh Yan Han
