home 13

November 1, 2009 thesundaytimes

1,500 IN BRIEF

$270,000 boost for

Confidence Circles (IRCCs) in
Bukit Panjang, Cashew and

medical
President’s Challenge
The President’s Challenge, an
annual charity drive to raise
funds for 37 beneficiaries, just
got a $270,000 boost from
Microsoft.
Zhenghua were launched
yesterday.
Minister for Community
Development, Youth and
Sports Vivian Balakrishnan
distributed gift packs worth $40

staff
A cheque for that sum of
money was handed to President
S R Nathan at a concert and
carnival held at the Chinese
Garden yesterday.
to needy families.
The 300 beneficiaries
include residents from Bukit
Panjang town, religious
organisations within Bukit
Panjang, Cashew and

wanted PHOTO: MICROSOFT

President Nathan and students of Grace Orchard School, which caters to children with special
needs, at a concert and carnival organised by Microsoft for The President’s Challenge.
Inter-Racial, Religious
Circles launched
The Inter-Racial and Religious
Zhenghua constituency, CHIJ
Our Lady of Peace, West Spring
Secondary School and
Zhenghua Primary School.

Positions like doctors, nurses and

occupational therapists at 2 new
hospitals must be filled by March

Jamie Ee Wen Wei

The health-care sector is going on a year-end recruit-

ment drive to fill 1,500 positions at two new hospitals
by March next year.
Wanted: Doctors, nurses, occupational therapists
and other health professionals.
Some 600 of the jobs are available at the 550-bed
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital which opens in Yishun next
March.
The core team for the new hospital will come from
Alexandra Hospital (AH).
Ms Fatimah Moideen Kutty, AH’s deputy director
of human resource, said part of its recruitment strate-
gy has been to target residents in the north.
In the last two years, it managed to hire about 300
people in Yishun.
The other 900 jobs will be at the Jurong General
Hospital (JGH), which will be ready by 2014. The staff
need to be hired by March to take over at Alexandra
Hospital, which will be the temporary premises for
JGH.
Mr Foo Hee Jug, chief executive officer of JGH,
said: “We are looking for people with the passion to
serve. We are very open to ‘mid-career switchers’ be-
cause their level of maturity would be higher, and in
health care, a certain level of resilience is needed.”

ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
The sector is tapping ‘mid-career switchers’ like nurse
Emily Lau, who worked in a finance firm previously.

He noted that nurses and allied health profession-

als such as physiotherapists will be in greater demand
as the shortage of doctors worldwide increases.
“Not everyone will need specialist care, so some du-
ties will be passed down to nurses and allied health
professionals,” he said.
To meet the demand for health-care workers, the
two hospitals are also looking overseas to recruit staff.
JGH has ventured to India and the Philippines to
recruit nurses.
Recently, the Ministry of Health collaborated with
the Workforce Development Agency to launch a cam-
paign to tap those considering a mid-career switch to
nursing and allied health careers.
A series of career previews was organised to pro-
mote the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP)
for these jobs.
This year, about 50 people enrolled for the diplo-
ma in nursing course under the PCP. This is almost
double the number who enrolled in 2007.
One graduate, Ms Emily Lau, 37, has been working
as a staff nurse at the Singapore General Hospital
(SGH) since May this year.
A relationship manager at a finance company for
almost 10 years, she took up the two-year diploma
course at Nanyang Polytechnic in 2006 after learning
about it in an advertisement.
That year, her mother suffered a stroke and needed
help to move around. “I felt that I could acquire a life-
long skill and use it at home to care for my mother,”
said the commerce graduate.
She is unfazed by the 50 per cent pay cut and physi-
cally demanding work.
In fact, she finds working with cancer patients
both fulfilling and challenging.
“Sometimes, when the patients are in pain, they
may yell at us. But we need to understand why they
do that. It’s because of what they are going through.”
She added: “My biggest satisfaction comes from
seeing that my patients are comfortable and happy.”
jamieee@sph.com.sg

CAREER PREVIEWS
쐽 For registered nurses and allied health
professionals
Date: Nov 7, Saturday
Time: 9am to 11.30am (Registration starts at
8.30am)
Venue: School of Health Sciences, Nanyang
Polytechnic, 180 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8,
Singapore 569830 (next to Yio Chu Kang MRT
station), Lecture Theatre Halls 2 and 3

쐽 For enrolled nurses

Date: Dec 3, Thursday
Time: 6.30pm to 8pm (Registration starts at
6pm)
Venue: Tampines North Community Club, 2
Tampines Street 41, Singapore 529204