Koh Poh Koon rejoins Singapore General Hospital as colorectal surgeon

SINGAPORE - Former senior minister of state for health and manpower Koh Poh Koon has rejoined Singapore General Hospital (SGH) where he used to practise medicine.

He told The Straits Times on Sept 30 that he is currently a visiting consultant surgeon with SGH, and will continue on a part-time basis for clinical work.

The 54-year-old also gave the update in a social media post, saying that as he returned to clinical practice in SGH, he hoped to “continue connecting people, ideas and capabilites across the public and private healthcare sectors”.

He shared that SGH has brought in Singapore’s first Toumai surgical robotic system for clinical evaluation.

Based on information on the manufacturer’s website, the robotic system is a multi-arm surgical robot that can perform minimally invasive laparoscopic surgeries. It can be used for procedures across urology, general surgery, gynecology, and thoracic surgery.

Koh will also help the hospital to drive interesting projects such as the robotic system, “to grow capabilities and develop public-private partnerships to strengthen our healthcare ecosystem”.

Koh, a colorectal surgeon by training, resigned from office on June 1 for family reasons. He said then that he wanted to spend some time with his family and will be returning to healthcare as a surgeon.

Koh has two daughters with his wife, who is also a doctor. He continues serving as an MP for Tampines GRC.

Before entering politics, Koh was the founding director of the colorectal cancer genomic health service at SGH from 2009 to 2013.

He had also assumed the role of director of the colorectal cancer molecular genetics research laboratory at SGH from 2008 to 2013, and was a consultant colorectal surgeon with the hospital.

He later went into private practice before assuming political office.

Wei Qiang is a correspondent at The Straits Times. He is on the health beat, with a special interest in healthcare policies.