National University Health System To Appoint New Chief Executive And Deputy Chief Executive At End Of The Year

01 Jul 2008

1. Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, will be stepping down as Chief Executive (CE) of the National University Health System (NUHS), on 1 Dec 2008, in view of his taking up the appointment of President of the National University of Singapore (NUS).  Since its establishment on 23 January 2008, NUHS has been making excellent progress.  New, integrated governance structures have been set up and the strategic planning and resource allocation frameworks have been aligned across the National University Hospital (NUH), NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSoM) and the Faculty of Dentistry (FOD).  NUHS is also well on-track with its reorganization of the clinical departmental structure, as well as its ongoing review of the human resource frameworks to facilitate synergies between clinical care, research and education.

2. To ensure a smooth and seamless transition, the NUHS Board has worked closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Education (MOE) to identify a suitable successor for the NUHS Chief Executive’s (CE) post well ahead of time.

3.  Associate Professor Benjamin Ong, Chairman of the Medical Board of the National University Hospital (CMB, NUH), has been named as the next CE of NUHS and Professor John Wong, Dean of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine will be appointed as Deputy CE of NUHS.  Both appointments will take effect from 1 Dec 2008. 

4.  Mr Lim Yong Wah, Chairman of the NUHS Board said: "The NUHS senior management team has been working extremely well together and a great deal has been achieved in a short time under Prof Tan Chorh Chuan’s leadership. The Board of Directors, together with MOH and MOE, felt that naming the successor to Prof Tan early will ensure a smooth and seamless transition and help keep up the strong momentum. Prof Ben Ong has all the qualities and leadership that will make him an outstanding CE. Prof John Wong as Deputy CE, brings equally impressive leadership and experience to the top management team. 

5.  Ms Yong Ying-I, PS (Health) and a Board member of NUHS, said: "We are happy with the excellent progress made by NUHS in the short period of time since the organizational restructuring took place, and have every confidence that the new management team led by Prof Ben Ong will take NUHS to greater heights.  We are also happy that Prof Tan Chorh Chuan will stay on as a member of the NUHS Board and Executive Committee as this will ensure continuity.”

6. NUHS also announced today that NUH CEO, Mr Chua Song Khim, will be leaving on 31 July 2008 to pursue his interest in the step-down care sector. Prof Tan Chorh Chuan said: "Song Khim has done an excellent job as CEO of NUH. His leadership will be missed in NUHS but he leaves behind a strong legacy of achievement in NUH and an excellent management team. His decision to pursue his personal conviction and interest, to focus on the step-down care area is laudable, given the strategic importance of this sector.  Indeed, we look forward to working with him as a leader in the step-down care sector, to strengthen integrated care delivery to improve patient well-being."

7.  Assoc Prof Benjamin Ong is a highly respected neurologist, academic and leader.  Under his capable leadership from 1999 to 2006, the NUS/NUH Department of Medicine grew greatly in strength driven by the quality of faculty, clinicians and staff that he nurtured and recruited. As CMB of NUH, he has led numerous substantial enhancements to clinical care programmes and processes in the hospital. He has also been instrumental in transforming National Healthcare Group’s (NHG) and NUH’s medical IT and electronic medical record systems.

8.  Prof John Wong is highly regarded internationally as a visionary leader, master clinician and academic. He has played a transformative role in the numerous leadership positions he held in the medical, academic and biomedical sciences arenas both in Singapore and overseas, including NUS Vice President (Research/Life Sciences) from 2002-2008, Director of Office of Life Sciences, NUS and Director of The Cancer Institute, NHG.  Prof John Wong will continue in his current appointment as Dean of the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine as well as Director of the National University Cancer Institute of Singapore.  He will also continue to play a key leadership role nationally in Singapore’s biomedical life sciences thrust.

9.  Mr Chua Song Khim has been CEO of NUH for the past seven years.  A firm believer in people and open communications, he has instilled a culture of excellence, dedication and commitment at NUH.  This is evident in the highly motivated and cohesive team at NUH.  External validation of these achievements include the numerous awards and certifications, internationally and locally, that the hospital has garnered.  In the past several months, Mr Chua had, as part of the NUHS Senior Management team, taken on additional responsibilities in developing new systems and processes for NUHS and has been a pillar of strength in this regard.

10.       The search for a new CEO for NUH is ongoing. In the interim, Mr Joe Sim, Chief Operating Officer of NUH, will be Acting CEO of NUH with effect from 1 August 2008 until a new CEO is appointed.

Ministry of Health

Ministry of Education

30 June 2008