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News / October 17 2011 - The Straits Times: Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital to add beds
The Straits Times: Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital to add beds
It will become largest single-site nursing home operator by about 2015
By Melissa Pang
KWONG Wai Shiu Hospital (KWSH), one of Singapore’s oldest charity hospitals, is set to become the largest single-site nursing home operator by around 2015.
It will be adding 200 beds to its existing 400, bringing the total number of beds at its community hospital and nursing home to 600.
A new 10- to 14-storey building will be built at its Serangoon Road site to consolidate all the beds in the hospital.
The $70 million expansion plans were announced by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong at KWSH’s 101st anniversary celebration yesterday.
The project, which will be partially funded by the Ministry of Health (MOH), is the most expensive one in the hospital’s history.
When completed, the expanded facility, which will take in mainly needy patients, will go some way in meeting the demand for nursing home beds.
Said Mr Gan: ‘Given its prime location in the community and its strong collaboration with other healthcare institutions, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital is well poised to meet the demand of nursing home beds in the central region of Singapore.’
He said his ministry is working with KWSH to ‘redevelop and expand its facilities and services’.
Senior citizens living in the surrounding estates can also look forward to a ‘one-stop centre providing a holistic and comprehensive suite of care services for the elderly’, he added.
Besides step-down care facilities, the hospital also offers services such as traditional Chinese medicine consultation for charges as low as $2.
Yesterday’s announcement comes almost a year after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed that the hospital’s land lease, which expires in 2015, would be extended.
The hospital is still in discussion with the authorities on the period of extension, said KWSH’s chairman Patrick Lee, 63.
The hospital, which sits on prime land near Boon Keng MRT station, has 14 blocks of mostly single storey buildings and a three-storey main building.
Four blocks with historical value will be preserved, three of which were built in 1857 and formerly belonged to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. A new multi-storey building will be built.
The rest of the 2.4ha piece of land will be returned to the Government for redevelopment.
KWSH’s Mr Lee said the hospital hopes to finalise expansion plans by the year end and begin construction by next year.
Besides offering more beds, the hospital also wants to boost support services, such as having larger outpatient clinics and rehabilitation centres to cater to chronic patients who need long-term care.
Said Mr Lee: ‘The hospital has more than a century’s experience in elderly care, therefore we will be focusing on geriatric care for the community.’
The expansion plans marked yet another milestone for KWSH, which has seen its role evolve over the years.
Founded in 1910 by a group of Cantonese community leaders, it catered to only the poor and needy of the Cantonese community in its early days.
In 1973, it opened its doors to people of all ethnicities.
Dr Lam Pin Min, the Government Parliamentary Committee chairman for Health, described the expansion plans as ‘welcome news’ because it will alleviate the nursing home crunch in Singapore brought about by a rapidly ageing population.
One in five Singaporeans will be more than 65 years old by 2030.
There are 63 nursing homes here. The Straits Times reported last November that the average waiting time for a state-subsidised nursing home bed is about 60 days, with more than 300 patients on the wait list.
To ease demand, the MOH has pledged to increase the number of nursing home beds from 9,236 to 15,000 beds in 10 years’ time.
There are also plans to build six new nursing homes in HDB estates by 2014, which will help add about 1,000 beds.
News / October 17 2011 - The Straits Times: Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital to add beds