SINGAPORE - SingHealth on Friday announced a new chief executive to oversee its community hospitals.

Dr Gan Wee Hoe, currently the deputy chief executive officer of SingHealth Community Hospitals (SCH), will take over from Ms Margaret Lee on March 1.

SingHealth said that as the founding CEO of SCH, Ms Lee, 56, oversaw the opening of Sengkang Community Hospital in 2018 and Outram Community Hospital in 2019.

She also incorporated Bright Vision Community Hospital into the cluster. These three community hospitals comprise SCH.

During the pandemic, Ms Lee also led SCH to redesign and transform Bright Vision into a dedicated Covid-19 care facility.

SingHealth said that under her leadership, she introduced and oversaw several initiatives that forged and enhanced hospital-community partnerships, and strengthened care in the community.

Among these were “green lanes” to give patients faster access to rehabilitation and palliative care programmes, and a comprehensive programme for dementia, to build awareness about the condition and innovate care, including at dementia care facilities.

Ms Lee also set up the SCH office of learning to provide training with education partners in intermediate and long-term care for the community.

SingHealth group CEO Ivy Ng said: “Margaret has been instrumental in leading SingHealth’s group of community hospitals to establish important partnerships in the community and social care sectors that facilitate integrated, person-centred care for our patients in and beyond our hospitals.”

Ms Lee’s efforts have also laid a strong foundation for SCH to continue offering the best care for patients and communities, as the nation moves towards Healthier SG, she added. Healthier SG is the national plan that focuses on preventative health.

SingHealth said that in his role, Dr Gan, 47, focused on enhancing SCH’s clinical and care processes, and strengthening staff engagement and appreciation. For instance, he rolled out initiatives for SCH management and leaders to job-shadow staff in clinical care and operations. He also introduced new awards to celebrate team excellence.

In his new role, he will oversee the redevelopment of Bright Vision hospital, which will include improving clinical care concepts and environmental sustainability.

Dr Gan began his career at SingHealth at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), leading its department of occupational and environmental medicine. He is also currently SGH’s chief medical informatics officer.

He also leads the SingHealth Covid-19 vaccination operations group and co-leads the strategic workgroup on innovation and digitalisation.