New 550-bed Jurong hospital by 2015: Khaw
Next door will be 200-bed hospital for step-down care
By Salma Khalik
A NEW 550-bed hospital in Jurong will open by 2015, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday, almost a decade later than originally planned.
The long-promised hospital was put on hold in favour of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun, which is slated to open in 2010 and provide much-needed beds for the north.
Mr Khaw told the media yesterday the tender for the Jurong hospital could be delayed until 2010 because of sky-high construction costs.
With several major projects going on right now, including the two integrated resorts, demand for labour and supplies is red-hot. The building binge has bumped up the cost of the Yishun hospital by about 25 per cent - from $400 million to more than $500 million.
Mr Khaw said there was 'no point incurring a high cost which we will have to pass on to patients'.
Even if the tender exercise is shelved until 2010, he expects the new hospital will still cost more than the one in Yishun. But he said: 'I promise that no matter what, the latest we'll open is 2015.'
A 200-bed community hospital will be built next door for patients who may still not be well enough to go home, but do not require full hospital care.
All new hospitals will incorporate this feature, said Mr Khaw, a move based on the successful integration of step-down care between Changi General Hospital and St Andrew's Community Hospital. There is a covered overhead bridge linking the two.
A community hospital is much cheaper to build than a general one - $150,000 per bed instead of $1 million in a general hospital, Mr Khaw said.
The Yishun hospital will also have a community hospital nearby while Tan Tock Seng Hospital will have the soon-to-be-completed Ren Ci hospital.
'This is the integration with step-down care we are focusing attention on over the next few years,' Mr Khaw said.
Dr Lim Suet Wun, chief executive officer of the National Healthcare Group, will head a committee to build the new Jurong hospital.
He told The Straits Times he plans to connect the hospital with several overhead passes to adjacent buildings and the MRT station.
'This will make for great convenience to patients and their relatives, which will be more important in the future in dealing with chronic conditions and the trend to more outpatient care,' he said.
The hospital will be built in the proposed Jurong Lake district, a development that will include homes, hotels, offices and retail outlets.
It will be taller than existing hospitals and give patients panoramic views of the lake and its surroundings.
Given Singapore's expected increase in population to as many as 6.5 million people, Mr Khaw is already reserving land for future hospitals.
He said the north will 'definitely need two to three hospitals'. Aside, from Yishun, a plot in Woodlands has been earmarked, with Bukit Batok possibly the location of a third hospital.
salma@sph.com.sg
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