BEST HOSPITALS
STAND-OUT JURY AWARD HOSPITAL OF THE YEAR IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC
SUNWAY MEDICAL CENTRE
Pushing the boundaries of healthcare Crowned as “ Stand-out Jury Award Hospital of the Year in the Asia-Pacific ” at Global Health APAC Awards 2021 and “ International Hospital of the Year ” by IMTJ consecutively in 2016 and 2017 , Sunway Medical Centre ( SMC ) serves close to half a million patients annually and more than 40,000 international patient visits from 170 countries .
Established in November 1999 , the flagship hospital of Sunway Healthcare Group is the first hospital in Southeast Asia to receive accreditation from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards ( ACHS ). SMC provides a comprehensive range of medical and surgical solutions with 26 centres of excellence , 617 beds , more than 60 specialities supported by 200 specialists , and more than 2,000 healthcare professionals . Core areas include cancer , blood disease , nuclear medicine , orthopaedics , robotic-assisted surgeries , gastroenterology , neurology , neurosurgery , cardiac and vascular care , as well as services for women and children conditions .
During this pandemic , to ensure continuous care for patients , SMC has been the first private hospital in Malaysia to launch teleconsultation services with the 24 / 7 Sunway Telemedicine Command Centre , with healthcare staff offering advice and medical concierge services .
Technology-driven care SMC is always at the forefront of technology and is fast to adopt the latest leading-edge equipment . The numerous clinical technologies the hospital has acquired include :
• Varian TrueBeam STx : Targets and treats tumours with greater precision and effectiveness
• Leksell Gamma Knife Icon : Treats brain tumours and neurological disorders with enhanced patient comfort
• da Vinci Surgical System : Latest robotic surgery system for minimally invasive surgeries
• Mako SmartRobotics : Installed for arthroplasty surgery in addition to the ROSA Knee System
• SPECT-CT Scan : Shows biological functions in the body and detects certain diseases
• Philips Azurion 7 : Performs a wide range of routine and complex cardiac and vascular procedures
• Radixact-X9 Tomotherapy : Enables radiologists and oncologists to diagnose , plan , and treat cancer patients on one device and system Recent investments also include the Siemens Somatom Force , a CT Scanner with Stellar Detector and the Siemens Magneto Skyra 3T MRI , widening the scope of services SMC provides .
Digital transformation Digitalisation has paved the way for SMC to deliver greater operational efficiency , accessibility to its healthcare services , and patient care and experience by implementing technological innovations such as :
• Bellabot : A fleet of smart robots with customisable delivery functions and a navigation system that allows them to manoeuvre around the wards and attend to patients ’ needs .
• Hospital Information System ( HIS ): A comprehensive , interoperable EMR-integrated system that grants accurate capturing of hospital-wide data from a single point of access , with paperless processes facilitating swift access to patient medical records .
• Self-service Kiosks : Reduce patient wait times for registration and payment .
COVID-19 response During the early outbreak phase , SMC pledged to accept non-COVID-19 patients from public hospitals to ease the burden on government healthcare facilities as they focus on managing waves of confirmed COVID-19 cases .
Currently , as one of the private hospitals supporting the Malaysian government in treating COVID-19 patients , SMC has allocated roughly 10 percent of its operating beds for their care . Other initiatives include :
• An outdoor medical tent that serves as a designated COVID-19 testing site
• Mandatory COVID-19 point-of-entry screening of all patients , staff , and visitors
• Negative pressure rooms to isolate the virus and prevent cross-contamination
• First-of-its-kind COVID-19 testing pod for staff to conduct tests safely
Research and collaborations SMC is affiliated with the University of Cambridge , Royal College of Physicians ( UK ), Royal Papworth Hospital , Harvard Medical School , and Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine & Health Sciences , Monash University Malaysia to further meet the demands of medical education , training , and research .
12 NOVEMBER 2021 GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com