Govt planning for new private, not-for-profit hospital in East S'pore like Mt Alvernia: Ong Ye Kung

The government is planning to release a land plot for a new private, not-for-profit acute hospital in eastern Singapore.

This marks the first such land release in nearly 20 years.

Minister for Health and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies Ong Ye Kung shared this on Apr. 9 at an event commemorating the 65th anniversary of Mount Alvernia Hospital.

It is currently Singapore’s only not-for-profit private acute hospital.

Public hospitals shouldn't have monopoly

In his speech, Ong said it is "neither desirable nor possible for public hospitals to be a monopoly".

Private healthcare has always played an important role in Singapore's healthcare system, with private hospitals operating alongside their public counterparts, he said.

In 1993, a government plan was set out to broaden the role of private hospitals in Singapore, so public hospitals could focus on caring for middle- and lower-income groups.

But this has not come about, with the public sector still operating around 80 per cent of hospital beds, and accommodating 90 per cent of Singapore's patients, he said.

In contrast, private hospitals are "barely half occupied", Ong said.

One reason is the increasingly expensive private hospital charges and private healthcare insurance premiums, which are driving patients to public hospitals.

The government has since taken some steps to fill the insurance gaps.

But Ong also noted that not all private hospitals are high-cost, citing Mount Alvernia.

Proposed hospital should have 300 to 400 beds

“But we only have one Mount Alvernia, and we wish for more private hospitals like you," Ong said.

The government is hence encouraging the establishment of lower-cost private hospitals, and earlier announced its plans to set up a second not-for-profit acute hospital.

The intended plot of land, in the Eastern region of Singapore, could accommodate 300 to 400 hospital beds.

Ong said the authorities plan to reach a decision on the tender in the second half of 2026.

To ensure lower costs, certain requirements would also be stipulated in the tender documents.

He said: "The first is bill size restrictions, so that the hospital bills are a certain percentile of the market, and cannot lead the market."

Ong said the second stipulation would be to adopt a fixed-price land tender approach.

"Bidders would then compete not based on how much they are prepared to pay for the land, but other qualitative factors, such as their care model, cost efficiency, approach to recruiting and developing manpower, and their commitment and policies towards affordable healthcare."

Last private hospital tender in 2008

The last private hospital land tender offered by the government was in 2008.

It was won at a high bid price, which led to a "high-end private hospital" occupying the land.

The 333-bed Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital was opened at a cost of S$2 billion; around S$1.25 billion was part of the land acquisition.

Ong said, “In the process, public healthcare also lost many good healthcare professionals to the private hospital, which was painful."

“That experience has made the Ministry of Health very cautious about having more private hospitals, and for that matter, very cautious about private hospitals expanding.”

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Top photo from Chua Germaine/Google Maps & Ong Ye Kung/Facebook