Train, bus, taxi used for rehabilitation at community hospital

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 car park, 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. The bus and train cabin in the

park at Jurong Community Hospital

, which opened in 2016, are mock-ups.

Speaking to The Straits Times on Nov 17 ahead of the official opening of the hospital in Bedok South, Mr Galvin Tan, senior occupational therapist of 13 years at the St Andrew’s Community Hospital, said having these vehicles in the hospital gives patients a training environment that realistically simulates actual situations in such spaces.

Having the vehicles on the hospital’s premises also allows 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 as other people watch on, he added.

This gives patients the opportunity to mentally prepare themselves before they travel on actual trains, buses or 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.

The 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 onboard. For patients using walking sticks, physiotherapists would guide them on how to get onto the bus while holding handrails, and how to sit down safely. — 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 onboard.

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 as well as plans for the patient’s regular lives 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.

The occupational therapist uses the train carriage to demonstrate where to wait for an MRT train on the platform, and how to park the wheelchair safely, to both the caregiver and patient on a wheelchair. — 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 practise how to make a transfer from a taxi to a wheelchair, and vice-versa, with the help of a car handle device that can be secured to the door frame of a car. — 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 the 66 first-generation trains plying the North-South and East-West MRT lines which have been

phased out of service since Sept 26

, after some 38 years of service.

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 vehicles 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.”

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