COVID-19 HEALTHCARE AWARD TO RECOGNISE HEALTHCARE STAFF IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19

         To recognise their contribution and dedication in the COVID-19 pandemic, staff of publicly-funded healthcare organisations involved in the delivery of healthcare services in the fight against COVID-19 will receive a COVID-19 Healthcare Award of up to $4,000 each. This was announced by Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health, at the National Medical Excellence Awards (NMEA) ceremony today.

2.             The healthcare system and healthcare staff have been under significant strain after over 20 months of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. While riding the transmission wave is a necessary process to living with COVID-19, the high number of cases has resulted in strong demand for healthcare services and very high workload in the public hospitals, including the intensive care units and emergency departments. As various sectors begin to resume their full operations and with society progressively restarting more activities, the healthcare sector continues to face intense pressure as the last line of defence.

3.             The government has worked with the public healthcare institutions to provide their staff with an award of up to $4,000 each. It serves as a recognition of the contribution and dedication of healthcare staff throughout this fight. Altogether, about 100,000 staff from eligible publicly-funded healthcare organisations will receive the award, including staff from the public healthcare clusters – National Healthcare Group, National University Health System, and SingHealth.

4.             The COVID-19 Healthcare Award will also be extended to publicly-funded Community Care Organisations (CCOs) that provide healthcare services. These include community hospitals that take in COVID-19 patients and nursing homes and dialysis centres that have expanded their capacity and worked tirelessly to keep vulnerable elderly in need of nursing care out of hospitals and free up hospital beds. These organisations have likewise been integral to our fight against COVID-19, alongside the public healthcare institutions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will also extend a grant of $10,000 to each Public Health Preparedness Clinic (PHPC), in recognition of their contributions in the fight against COVID-19.

5.             MOH, the Agency for Integrated Care and the public healthcare clusters are working through the implementation and more details will be communicated to eligible staff through the clusters and CCOs when ready. The Award will be given to staff of the public healthcare institutions in December, and to PHPCs and eligible staff of the CCOs in the first quarter of 2022.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

5 NOVEMBER 2021