Founded in 2006, HealthServe, is an IPC registered charity that seeks to bring healing and hope to vulnerable low-wage migrant workers in Singapore.

There are close to one million work permit holders in Singapore. Access to affordable healthcare can be a problem for low wage migrant workers as foreigners in Singapore do not receive subsidies for healthcare at public institutions. By law, workers are supposed to be covered for both inpatient and outpatient treatment by their employers but not all do. In addition, fear of repatriation and cultural and language barriers also contribute to migrant workers not receiving proper treatment.

The more unfortunate amongst these workers get injured at work and may end up losing their jobs and suffering loss of pay for a protracted period. The wait for their work injury compensation application to be processed and resolved can take months or years.

From a single clinic providing GP services in Geylang to meet the needs of the workers, HealthServe has expanded our range of services to the provision of GP and specialist medical services, rehabilitation and dental services, injury and salary-related casework support, social assistance, counselling and mental health programmes.

We are very much a volunteer-run organisation. Our operations are run by a small staff team and hundreds of medical and non-medical volunteers and interns.

1. Physical Health: Healthcare is the heartbeat of HealthServe. Each year, thousands of migrant workers walk through our clinic doors. Our clinics are located in areas near migrant worker residences and offer subsidised health services to migrant workers not receiving adequate health assistance. We offer general medical services as well as dermatology, orthopaedic, occupational and physical therapy, dental services and in 2019, we launched a Chronic Disease Management service.

2. Mental Health and Counselling Services: Our multi-level mental health programme launched in 2019 and is the first in Singapore supporting the migrant worker community. The range of services include psychoeducation workshops to individual counselling sessions with native-speaking qualified counsellors. We work towards addressing, strengthening and empowering the mental wellbeing of migrant workers. We work together with government agencies, hospitals, industry associations and dormitories to provide holistic care for the migrant community.

3. Social Assistance: HealthServe provides casework support to migrant workers with work injury claims and legal, criminal or employment-related issues. Each year, we assist on hundreds of cases. Our social workers follow up on their cases closely, even accompanying workers to the hospital for their check-ups and medical assessments and medical assessments. With the help of the Ministry of Manpower, hospitals, pro bono lawyers and other community organisations.