Thomson Medical Centre
Encyclopedia
Thomson Medical Centre Limited (Abbreviation
: TMC; Chinese: 康生医院) is a 190 bed
private hospital
located at Thomson Road
in Singapore
. The hospital specialises in gynaecology
and in vitro fertilisation
(IVF). The hospital has made several milestones in Asia
, including producing the first surviving IVF quadruplets in 1989.
With respect to healthcare quality assurance, Thomson Medical Centre is currently not engaging in international healthcare accreditation
with any of the major international hospital accreditation
schemes.
which was delivered at the hospital. In the same year, Thomson Fertility Centre was set up to introduce IVF for couples who wanted child
ren. The hospital set up a private cytogenetic laboratory on its premises in 1989. That same year, Thomson delivered
Asia's first surviving IVF quadruplets, and was delivered by Dr. W.C. Cheng. The following year, Thomson produced its first frozen embryo
baby
. The hospital delivered the hospital's first baby by intracytoplasmic sperm injection
in December 1995. The hospital was the first local IVF unit to perform the procedure jointly with overseas gynaecologists through an extension of simplified IVF techniques. It delivered babies by assisted hatching treatment and by Blastocyst cultured frozen embryos in 1999 and 2000 respectively. In 2000, the hospital made history again when it was one of the world's first fertility clinic
to produce a pair of twins from frozen ova
and frozen sperm
. In 2001, the hospital opened the Thomson Lifestyle Centre for full body checkups, and housing other medical facilities, on its fourth floor.
The hospital was expanded in the late 1990s to include a four basement
carpark using a car lift and an extension block to include clinic
s and other facilities. The upgrade also a saw a bigger lobby, shops, a café
and more space. The hospital was listed on the SGX secondary board listing SESDAQ, now named Catalist, in 2005.
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
: TMC; Chinese: 康生医院) is a 190 bed
Bed
A bed is a large piece of furniture used as a place to sleep, relax, or engage in sexual relations.Most modern beds consist of a mattress on a bed frame, with the mattress resting either on a solid base, often wooden slats, or a sprung base...
private hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
located at Thomson Road
Thomson Road, Singapore
Thomson Road is a major trunk road linking Singapore's central business district with the northern suburban areas. Taking its name from John Turnbull Thomson, a Scotsman who was the Government Surveyor and Chief Engineer of the Straits Settlements from 1841 to 1853 and who helped build many roads...
in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The hospital specialises in gynaecology
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
and in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...
(IVF). The hospital has made several milestones in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, including producing the first surviving IVF quadruplets in 1989.
With respect to healthcare quality assurance, Thomson Medical Centre is currently not engaging in international healthcare accreditation
International healthcare accreditation
Due to the near-universal desire for quality healthcare, there is a growing interest in international healthcare accreditation. Providing healthcare, especially of an adequate standard, is a complex and challenging process...
with any of the major international hospital accreditation
Hospital accreditation
Hospital accreditation has been defined as “A self-assessment and external peer assessment process used by health care organizations to accurately assess their level of performance in relation to established standards and to implement ways to continuously improve”...
schemes.
History
Thomson Medical Centre was set up by gynaecologist Dr. Cheng Wei Chen in 1979. The hospital was one of the first in Singapore to introduce the home-like concept and personalised care for its patients. In 1982, it was the first private hospital in the country to introduce an obstetric ultrasound department to introduce obstetric ultrasound scanning. Thomson was also the first private hospital to set up an IVF clinic inside the premises. The year 1988 saw the hospital having Singapore's first IVF tripletsMultiple birth
A multiple birth occurs when more than one fetus is carried to term in a single pregnancy. Different names for multiple births are used, depending on the number of offspring. Common multiples are two and three, known as twins and triplets...
which was delivered at the hospital. In the same year, Thomson Fertility Centre was set up to introduce IVF for couples who wanted child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren. The hospital set up a private cytogenetic laboratory on its premises in 1989. That same year, Thomson delivered
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
Asia's first surviving IVF quadruplets, and was delivered by Dr. W.C. Cheng. The following year, Thomson produced its first frozen embryo
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
baby
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
. The hospital delivered the hospital's first baby by intracytoplasmic sperm injection
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is an in vitro fertilization procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.-Indications:...
in December 1995. The hospital was the first local IVF unit to perform the procedure jointly with overseas gynaecologists through an extension of simplified IVF techniques. It delivered babies by assisted hatching treatment and by Blastocyst cultured frozen embryos in 1999 and 2000 respectively. In 2000, the hospital made history again when it was one of the world's first fertility clinic
Fertility clinic
Fertility clinics are staffed medical clinics that assist couples, and sometimes individuals, who want to become parents but for medical reasons have been unable to achieve this goal via the natural course...
to produce a pair of twins from frozen ova
Ovum
An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...
and frozen sperm
Spermatozoon
A spermatozoon is a motile sperm cell, or moving form of the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A spermatozoon joins an ovum to form a zygote...
. In 2001, the hospital opened the Thomson Lifestyle Centre for full body checkups, and housing other medical facilities, on its fourth floor.
The hospital was expanded in the late 1990s to include a four basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
carpark using a car lift and an extension block to include clinic
Clinic
A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...
s and other facilities. The upgrade also a saw a bigger lobby, shops, a café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
and more space. The hospital was listed on the SGX secondary board listing SESDAQ, now named Catalist, in 2005.
See also
- List of hospitals in Singapore
- SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
- International healthcare accreditationInternational healthcare accreditationDue to the near-universal desire for quality healthcare, there is a growing interest in international healthcare accreditation. Providing healthcare, especially of an adequate standard, is a complex and challenging process...
- Medical tourismMedical tourismMedical tourism is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of travelling across international borders to obtain health care...