Community hospital uses old MRT train carriage, public bus and taxi for patients’ rehabilitation
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Mr Galvin Tan, senior occupational therapist (left), and Mr Keen Austria, senior physiotherapist, with the decommissioned taxi and bus that are used to train caregivers and patients at St Andrew's Community Hospital Bedok.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
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- St Andrew's Community Hospital Bedok has received a full-sized train carriage, bus, and taxi to aid patient rehabilitation, simulating real-world transport scenes.
- These vehicles provide a safe environment for patients to practice using public transport with mobility aids, boosting their confidence before leaving the hospital.
- Donated by LTA, SBS Transit, and ComfortDelGro, these vehicles will help patients regain independence, improving their quality of life.
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SINGAPORE – An actual first-generation MRT train carriage has found a new home in a community hospital in the east – the first time an entire train carriage has been donated to a hospital.
The new St Andrew’s Community Hospital Bedok – launched on Nov 20 – also houses an SBS Transit bus and a blue ComfortDelGro taxi.
These donated vehicles, sitting side by side next to the carpark, will be put to good use for patients undergoing physiotherapy and occupational therapy before returning home.
St Andrew’s Community Hospital Bedok is the first facility to use an actual train carriage – more than 23m long and 3m wide – and a bus for rehabilitation in a hospital setting. A bus and a train cabin in the park at Jurong Community Hospital
Speaking to The Straits Times on Nov 17 ahead of the official opening of the hospital in Bedok South, Mr Galvin Tan, a senior occupational therapist of 13 years at St Andrew’s Community Hospital, said having these vehicles on hospital grounds gives patients a training environment that realistically simulates actual situations in such spaces.
The vehicles also allow patients and caregivers to learn to navigate getting on and off public transport with walking sticks or wheelchairs, without feeling the pressure of doing so in public with other people watching, he added.
This gives patients the opportunity to mentally prepare themselves before they travel on actual trains and buses or in taxis, said Mr Tan.
At St Andrew’s Simei facility, occupational therapists take patients out on “community outings”, which involve short bus rides between the hospital and the nearby Eastpoint shopping mall to get lunch.
Mr Keen Austria, a senior physiotherapist of over a decade at the hospital, said conducting strength training sessions on these vehicles also helps to boost the confidence of patients as early as possible – even before they are ready to return to their lifestyles outside the hospital.
Occupational therapists will teach both the patient on a wheelchair or mobility scooter and the caregiver how to board and alight from a bus safely, as well as how to park and engage the brakes of a wheelchair on board.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Community hospitals function as a bridge between an acute hospital and the patient’s home, and typically focus on rehabilitation and plans for the patient’s regular life after discharge.
Patients at the St Andrew’s Community Hospital Bedok – which can accommodate 100 community hospital beds and 140 transitional care facility beds – usually stay there for up to three weeks.
Typically, physiotherapy sessions to strengthen a patient’s muscles and range of motion take place concurrently with occupational therapy sessions involving functional training to help a patient complete daily tasks independently and confidently, said Mr Tan and Mr Austria.
An occupational therapist using the train carriage to demonstrate where to wait for an MRT train on the platform and how to park the wheelchair safely.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
The train carriage was donated by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to the hospital on April 29, the bus by SBS Transit on June 26, and the decommissioned taxi by ComfortDelGro on July 7.
SBS Transit spokeswoman Grace Wu said the bus will be permanently parked at the hospital for about three years until April 14, 2028, and the hospital will have to renew its permit with LTA for the bus every three years.
While the Simei branch also houses a ComfortDelGro taxi for caregivers and patients on wheelchairs to practise boarding and alighting, Mr Austria hopes not to limit the travel possibilities for patients to only taxis.
The patient and the caregiver practising how to help a patient transfer from a taxi to a wheelchair, and vice versa.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
“There are a lot of patients – in fact, most of them – who can still reintegrate into the community safely with proper training and intervention,” Mr Austria added.
The donated train was among 66 first-generation trains plying the North-South and East-West MRT lines which have been phased out of service since Sept 26
Dr Loh Yik Hin, chief executive of St Andrew’s Community Hospital, said: “For many of our elderly patients, regaining the ability to take public transport is a vital step in returning to normal life and reconnecting with family and friends.
“The donated vehicles are more than just about transport, they empower our patients to lead meaningful lives.”
