SINGAPORE- The first Sunlove Community Care (SCC) centre was officially launched on Friday (May 5) to provide free immediate healthcare services to elderly residents in Marsiling.
Located at the foot of Block 4 Marsiling Road, it will provide medical, nursing and therapy services for elderly tenants in the rental flats in Blocks 3, 4 and 16, either at the centre or in their homes.
Since the Community Care Centre became functional in November 2016, it has registered around 250 residents who require more care, identified through referrals from hospitals and elsewhere. Home-based nursing care and physiotherapy reduces the need for them to keep going to hospital each time they become sick .
Nurses attend to emergencies and review clients within two days of their discharge from hospital. The centre also has a free clinic where general medications for common ailments such as flu or cough can be dispensed as prescribed by doctors.
MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Madam Halimah Yacob, said the opening of the community care centre will continue to pave the way for future developments in the same vein so that the elderly can live in their own communities while receiving care instead of having to be institutionalised.
A beneficiary of Sunlove's services, Mr Ng Teng Sun, 84, has been bedridden for more than three years from a major stroke and his wife had struggled to care for him on her own.
Said Madam Chua Sang, 68: "I am very thankful for the home visits. Since November, nurses from the team come to my house every weekday morning to bathe my husband and this has really made things easier for me as I am also getting older."
Ms Nara Kamala, 65, nurse manager of the care centre, said, "The proximity of the care centre to the homes of the elderly residents really makes a great difference as I am able to be at their aid within a much shorter time."
The new care centre provides medical services while the nearby senior activity centre serves as a place for the elderly to socialise.
Another Sunlove centre, the Chai Chee Seniors Activity Centre also arranged for a free Mobile Dental Clinic (MDC) on Friday (May 4) for elderly residents living in the area.
Sunlove started out as a charitable home for the intellectually-disabled, but has since branched out to provide services for other needy groups , such as the elderly and students from financially-disadvantaged families. Now, the organisation provides services such as home nursing, counselling services and free tuition for students.
