<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#ffffff colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>S'PORE PR SETS UP CLINIC FOR FOREIGN WORKERS</TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w>'Some have no money for food, let alone doctors' </TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>By Teh Jen Lee</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>September 13, 2008</TD><TD width=30>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rightline vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12 vAlign=top align=left>IMAGINE being sick and not being able to afford a doctor. <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]HOPE: Founder of the clinic, Mr Ranjit Chandra (right) with an injured Bangladeshi foreign worker. <!--<copyright>-->TNP PICTURE: CHOO CHWEEN HUA <!--</copyright>-->[/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Or being misunderstood and given the wrong medication.
Foreign workers here who don't speak English often face these problems.
A clinic set up at 22, Roberts Lane in Little India last October aims to help them.
Called the Singapore Medical Clinic, it is the brainchild of Mr Ranjit Chandra, who came here from India nine years ago.
The senior legal executive, who's in his 30s, sees himself as a social worker.
'I wanted to help needy people. Some of them have no money for food, much less to see a doctor,' he said.
'Language is another problem, they have difficulty explaining themselves in English.
'Here in the clinic, the doctors speak Tamil and we have interpreters to help the Bangladeshi workers, who speak Bengali, to communicate.'
With his boss, lawyer K Ravi, and Dr Islam Md Towfique, an anaesthesiologist at Mount Alvernia Hospital, they pooled together $80,000 to open the clinic.
It is situated near Farrer Park MRT station at a shophouse owned by Mr Ravi.
Mr Ranjit, a Singapore PR, said about 20 per cent of the patients receive free treatment - they don't have to pay for consultation or medicine.
Another 35 per cent have their consultation fees of $18 waived. The rest pay.
Nearly 1,000 patients, mostly workers from Bangladesh and India, have had their treatment costs waived since the clinic opened.
Need recommendation
To get free or subsidised treatment, the patients need to have a recommendation from social welfare organisations or embassies who have done some form of means assessment.
Needy Singaporeans can also get help at the clinic, said Mr Ranjit.
While there are other similar subsidised clinics (see other report), it appears that the Singapore Medical Clinic is the only one open daily and targeted mainly at foreign workers.
Dr Vasanthan Metupalle, 31, one of the four doctors on the clinic's management committee, said: 'I've seen people who have not been a doctor for a long time because of cost. They have severe infections that require hospitalisation.'
He is paid about 30 per cent less than the market rate, but he doesn't mind as he sees his involvement with the clinic as a combination of a business venture and community service.
'There is potential for growth here, that's why I decided to join,' said Dr Vasanthan, who came to Singapore from India when he was 5.
Besides lower doctor salaries, the clinic uses generic medicine to keep costs down.
Mr Ravi also does not collect rent, which further reduces expenses by another $4,000 a month.
Even so, Mr Ranjit said he has had to pay the doctors out of his own pocket, spending about $12,000 so far.
The good news is that the clinic is in the process of getting an X-ray machine so that it can offer medical screenings which foreign workers need in their work permit applications.
This will help it open longer and increase the number of patients.
Currently, the clinic is open from 5pm to 9pm on weekdays and from 2pm to 9pm on weekends.
Starting next month, it will be open from 9am to 1pm on weekdays, and from 10am to 10pm on weekends.
Dr Vasanthan said for a clinic to be viable it needs at least 40 paying patients a day.
The current number is less than a quarter of that.
One of his patients is Mr Md Mosharrf Hossan, 27, a Bangladeshi cleaner in a shipyard.
His whole body was covered with sores caused by exposure to harsh chemicals.
Some sores became badly infected, especially one on the third finger of his left hand.
The finger had to be amputated in a hospital.
While his employer paid for the operation, Mr Mosharrf was referred to the clinic for follow-up treatment which he received for free.
'I was given medicine and painkillers.
I also come here weekly to do physiotherapy. My third finger only hurts a little now,' he said.
Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too, an advocacy group for migrant workers, appreciates what the clinic does.
He said: 'We know from workers that getting medical help is one of the urgent problems for them. The clinic is useful in providing immediate assistance.'</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD><TD width=10> </TD><TD width=30>
Foreign workers here who don't speak English often face these problems.
A clinic set up at 22, Roberts Lane in Little India last October aims to help them.
Called the Singapore Medical Clinic, it is the brainchild of Mr Ranjit Chandra, who came here from India nine years ago.
The senior legal executive, who's in his 30s, sees himself as a social worker.
'I wanted to help needy people. Some of them have no money for food, much less to see a doctor,' he said.
'Language is another problem, they have difficulty explaining themselves in English.
'Here in the clinic, the doctors speak Tamil and we have interpreters to help the Bangladeshi workers, who speak Bengali, to communicate.'
With his boss, lawyer K Ravi, and Dr Islam Md Towfique, an anaesthesiologist at Mount Alvernia Hospital, they pooled together $80,000 to open the clinic.
It is situated near Farrer Park MRT station at a shophouse owned by Mr Ravi.
Mr Ranjit, a Singapore PR, said about 20 per cent of the patients receive free treatment - they don't have to pay for consultation or medicine.
Another 35 per cent have their consultation fees of $18 waived. The rest pay.
Nearly 1,000 patients, mostly workers from Bangladesh and India, have had their treatment costs waived since the clinic opened.
Need recommendation
To get free or subsidised treatment, the patients need to have a recommendation from social welfare organisations or embassies who have done some form of means assessment.
Needy Singaporeans can also get help at the clinic, said Mr Ranjit.
While there are other similar subsidised clinics (see other report), it appears that the Singapore Medical Clinic is the only one open daily and targeted mainly at foreign workers.
Dr Vasanthan Metupalle, 31, one of the four doctors on the clinic's management committee, said: 'I've seen people who have not been a doctor for a long time because of cost. They have severe infections that require hospitalisation.'
He is paid about 30 per cent less than the market rate, but he doesn't mind as he sees his involvement with the clinic as a combination of a business venture and community service.
'There is potential for growth here, that's why I decided to join,' said Dr Vasanthan, who came to Singapore from India when he was 5.
Besides lower doctor salaries, the clinic uses generic medicine to keep costs down.
Mr Ravi also does not collect rent, which further reduces expenses by another $4,000 a month.
Even so, Mr Ranjit said he has had to pay the doctors out of his own pocket, spending about $12,000 so far.
The good news is that the clinic is in the process of getting an X-ray machine so that it can offer medical screenings which foreign workers need in their work permit applications.
This will help it open longer and increase the number of patients.
Currently, the clinic is open from 5pm to 9pm on weekdays and from 2pm to 9pm on weekends.
Starting next month, it will be open from 9am to 1pm on weekdays, and from 10am to 10pm on weekends.
Dr Vasanthan said for a clinic to be viable it needs at least 40 paying patients a day.
The current number is less than a quarter of that.
One of his patients is Mr Md Mosharrf Hossan, 27, a Bangladeshi cleaner in a shipyard.
His whole body was covered with sores caused by exposure to harsh chemicals.
Some sores became badly infected, especially one on the third finger of his left hand.
The finger had to be amputated in a hospital.
While his employer paid for the operation, Mr Mosharrf was referred to the clinic for follow-up treatment which he received for free.
'I was given medicine and painkillers.
I also come here weekly to do physiotherapy. My third finger only hurts a little now,' he said.
Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too, an advocacy group for migrant workers, appreciates what the clinic does.
He said: 'We know from workers that getting medical help is one of the urgent problems for them. The clinic is useful in providing immediate assistance.'</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
