Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health, at the official opening and 40th anniversary celebration of St Joseph's Home, 19 March 2018

Reverend William Goh, Archbishop of Singapore

Mr Thomas Tan, Board Chairman, Catholic Welfare Services

Mr James Chew, CEO, Catholic Welfare Services

Sister (Sr) Geraldine Tan, Executive Director, St Joseph’s Home

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

1.     Good morning. Six months ago, I was here to launch the infant and childcare centre, as well as the intergenerational playground in St Joseph’s Home (SJH). Today, it is a pleasure to be back for the official opening of the redeveloped SJH and to be part of your 40^th anniversary celebration.

SJH’s Rich Heritage

2.     Let me first congratulate SJH on 40 years of stellar service to the community. SJH has a rich heritage, dating back to the 1970s when Singapore was rapidly industrialising. In response to the needs of the community, SJH was set up in 1978 by the Catholic Welfare Society and the Canossian Sisters as an aged home to provide shelter and care for the ageing samsui women, domestic helpers and the destitute. Since then, the Home has continued to pioneer new services to respond to other emerging community needs, such as the setup of one of the first hospice services in Singapore in 1985, and the provision of overnight caregiver respite services via the Dusk-to-Dawn programme in 2013. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will continue to partner and support providers like SJH to meet the needs of our ageing population.

Making Care More Accessible

3.         MOH has been steadily ramping up nursing home capacity to make nursing home services more accessible for our seniors.  Since 2011, we have grown nursing home capacity by more than 50% to 14,900 beds in 2017.  As part of our efforts to increase our national capacity to 17,000 nursing beds by 2020, we have also supported SJH in doubling its capacity from 139 beds to nearly 400 beds in this redevelopment.  In this modern facility, SJH can provide nursing home, dementia, and palliative care services.

Providing Better Care and Support

4.         We are also improving our services so that seniors receive better care. Nursing homes such as SJH are enhancing the design of their facilities to provide a more conducive environment for seniors. For example, the room designs in the redeveloped SJH aim to provide better ventilation while allowing some private spaces and customised bedside cabinets for the seniors.  In addition, the beds are low in height to reduce fall risks, and are equipped with anti-pressure mattresses to reduce bed sores in bed-bound seniors.  Good quality care also goes beyond the hardware.  We need the right “heartware” to deliver quality care and programmes.   We see this at SJH, where residents interact and form meaningful relationships with one another.  The cluster concept of living encourages this, by grouping residents into small families that share communal pantries and kitchenettes and their meals together.  SJH has also been a front-runner in inter-generational programming among nursing homes, by piloting activities that encourage interactions with children from the co-located infant and childcare centre, and through an intergenerational playground that enhances psycho-social wellbeing for its residents. Young and old have meals together, celebrate festivities, do activities such as arts and crafts together, and ultimately build relationships and friendships.

5.         I am also heartened to see SJH reaching out beyond its facility to the vicinity to engage the surrounding community. SJH has initiated conversations with people living, working and studying around this area to gather feedback on their views of the nursing home, seniors and ageing. This feedback will be used to help SJH improve care and curate suitable programming at the home.   

6.         One innovative example is the virtual reality (VR) project partnership between SJH and Westwood Secondary School. The project originated from less-ambulant seniors who wanted to visit their old neighbourhood as well as other places of interest.  A 360-degree video and various VR videos were produced by the students and a VR company to allow these seniors a virtual reminiscence experience without having to physically leave their current community. In this digital age, I am sure we can tap our young minds to unlock more of such opportunities for our seniors. 

7.         This morning, I am also delighted to discover an Italian coffee joint, Café Verona, within the Home. Sister Geraldine and her team came up with this interesting concept, as yet another innovative programme, to cater to our future seniors who will be increasingly well-travelled and educated.  Beyond serving its residents as a comfortable hangout, I understand that SJH also plans to open up Café Verona to students in the neighbourhood, as a night time study area during examination periods.  By generously opening its doors to others, SJH continues to affirm its valuable role in the community.  

Keeping Care Affordable

8,         The government will continue to support nursing homes such as SJH to enhance existing services while keeping care affordable.  Beyond providing support for this redevelopment project, we have also matched around $13 million under the Community Silver Trust (CST) for Catholic Welfare Services since 2011, of which more than $5 million was set aside for SJH’s relocation plans to its current premises at Jurong.  The CST provides dollar-for-dollar matching for donations to eligible voluntary welfare organisations providing long term care services.  At Budget 2018, we announced a $300 million top-up to the CST. Providers can also now tap on CST to match donations raised for active ageing programmes to support more community initiatives.  We hope this continues to encourage community involvement and sustain efforts to raise capabilities in the sector.

Conclusion

9.         On this note, I wish to thank Sister Geraldine and her dedicated team of sisters and nurses for their selfless service in the last four decades. Your hard work goes a long way to provide seniors with a sense of dignity and a renewed hope for living despite their conditions.  I look forward to an even stronger partnership with SJH in the decades ahead!

10.       Congratulations again on your 40th anniversary. I wish you all the best. Thank You.