1,000 patients at Jurong public hospitals to benefit from AI, precision medicine in next 5 years

The cost for patients receiving personalised interventions may be higher than that incurred in the current care model.

But this may not translate to higher costs for each patient, Associate Professor Dan Yock Young, the chief executive of NTFGH and JCH, told The Straits Times.

Personalised interventions in this ageing resilience project are meant to be cost-effective and aimed at reducing clinical outcomes such as readmissions, and could bring about cost savings, he added.

Patient-centric initiatives like this five-year project could be funded by the JurongHealth Fund (JHF), which was set up in 2011 to support programmes and initiatives that benefit needy patients, as well as staff at both JurongHealth hospitals.

The JHF raised $1.4 million through a fund-raising campaign that lasted eight months.

The NTFGH Benefit Dinner held at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore on Oct 16 marked the end of the campaign and celebrated the 10th anniversary of the two hospitals.

Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung attended as guest of honour.

With the funds raised, the JHF can continue to help needy patients afford essential treatments or devices such as hearing implants, medical and mobility equipment such as oxygen concentrators, and hospital conveyances.

Mr Chua Chwee Chua, 73, is one of the JHF beneficiaries.

He suffers from lung conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchiectasis – a permanent condition in which parts of the airways have enlarged due to irreversible damage to the lungs – and tuberculosis, which had reactivated in March and for which he is undergoing treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

His breathing difficulties are severe and he needs an oxygen concentrator, which pumps oxygen into his airways, even when he is asleep.

Having resigned from his gardener job in July, he could not afford the two concentrators, which cost more than $3,000, until he received support from the JHF and the Government’s Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund.

He has been hospitalised in NTFGH four times in 2025 due to shortness of breath. Though he quit his decades-long smoking habit in July, he still requires the oxygen concentrators to breathe better.

“With the devices, I can at least be out for a few hours each day to interact with my friends, which is much more fulfilling than staying at home,” said Mr Chua.

The two hospitals also tap the JHF for staff development and training, such as the Nursing Empowerment Programme introduced in 2024 to groom nursing leaders and encourage innovations to improve nursing care and teamwork.

For the previous financial year that ended on March 31, the JHF received more than $5.9 million through sources such as donations and investment income.

It spent more than $6.3 million, mainly in education programmes and

.

Over 3,000 patients, community partners and members of the public have benefited from programmes and initiatives backed by the JHF in the past financial year.