Two nurses take up leading positions at public hospitals

President’s Award for Nurses recipients rise through ranks to reach C-suite posts

- Joyce Teo

Two nurse leaders have risen through the ranks to reach C-suite posts that now see them in leading positions running public hospitals.

Adjunct Associate Professor Yong Keng Kwang was appointed assistant chief executive of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) on April 15.

Three months later, Ms Margaret Lee, the chief nurse of Alexandra Hospital (AH), became the hospital's deputy CEO on July 1.

Both positions are new.

Prior to these appointments, Yishun Community Hospital's CEO Pauline Tan was reported to be the first nurse to have attained the position in 2015.

Dr Catherine Koh, group chief nurse of the National University Health System, said it is relatively rare for a nurse to ascend to these C-suite positions.

The traditional career pathways for nurses are in nursing management, clinical work and education, with the new career tracks being research and informatics.

Prof Yong received the President's Award for Nurses in 2014 and Ms Lee in 2021.

Ms Lee's appointment comes as AH gears up to serve more patients. By 2028, it will be redeveloped into a 1,300-bed integrated general hospital.

Plans are afoot to significantly ramp up manpower in the light of the expansion.

But the nursing shortage is a worldwide issue that will not go away, and one of Ms Lee's challeng es lies in managing manpower requirements, particularly as healthcare needs here rise with a rapidly ageing population.

Currently, nurses make up 43 per cent of AH's headcount.

"I know that we will not have enough (nurses). So, what can we do to ensure that we have a better future, not just for the people we care for, but also the people providing the care?" said Ms Lee, 48.