release a plot of land in eastern Singapore<\/span><\/a> for the development of a private not-for-profit acute hospital, which would be the second in the country after Mount Alvernia Hospital.<\/p>\nBut he did not say at the time why it was to be located in the east.<\/p>\n
Replying to The Straits Times\u2019 queries about the choice of location, an MOH spokesman said: \u201cAmong various factors, one key consideration was that hospital bed occupancy rates were higher in the central and eastern region.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesman did not mention other factors.<\/p>\n
Public hospitals\u2019 bed occupancy rates since 2018 show that the three hospitals that frequently had the highest rates were Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in the central region, and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) in the western region.<\/p>\n
TTSH and KTPH recorded their highest annual average occupancy rates in 2023, with TTSH averaging 95.8 per cent and KTPH 96.9 per cent. Both hospitals topped the annual average rates for four years after 2018.<\/p>\n
NTFGH\u2019s occupancy rate was the highest in the western region, reaching a record 93.8 per cent in 2023.<\/p>\n
The other public hospitals in that region are National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital. The latter\u2019s rates have been the lowest among all public hospitals since 2018.<\/p>\n
Public health specialist Jeremy Lim said the high population density and larger number of older people in the eastern and central regions would have been considered by MOH in deciding to build the new hospital in the east.<\/p>\n
Lim, who is the author of Myth Or Magic: The Singapore Healthcare System, said he was \u201cconfident MOH has correctly projected future demand\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLand use in constrained Singapore has to be very strategic with inevitable trade-offs,\u201d he said. \u201cHospitals in particular have very high development costs and high ongoing operating costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other details about the new hospital \u2013 such as the specific site, proportion of beds set aside for subsidised care for Singaporeans and permanent residents, and the level of subsidy to be accorded \u2013 are not yet available.<\/p>\n
MOH aims to announce more details by end-2026.<\/p>\n
Possible sites in Simei, Paya Lebar and Serangoon<\/h2>\n
ST also asked MOH how many potential sites it is considering for the new hospital and whether the sites have been zoned accordingly.<\/p>\n
In its reply, MOH repeated what Ong had said earlier \u2013 that it had identified a suitable plot of land in the eastern region of Singapore, without providing additional details.<\/p>\n
ST has identified three possible sites in the east that have been rezoned and could be used to build the new hospital. Two have been rezoned for health and medical care use, and one site with two land parcels has been proposed for similar rezoning.<\/p>\n
They are located in Upper Serangoon, Paya Lebar and Simei.<\/p>\n
At the intersection of Upper Serangoon Road and Lorong Low Koon, there is a plot of land \u2013 about 11,000 sq m in size \u2013 that the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has rezoned for health and medical care use. It was previously zoned for places of worship.<\/p>\n