Health City Novena: Massive health-care complex by 2030

By Salma Khalik, The Straits Times, 31 Aug 2013

NOVENA will have the country's biggest health-care complex by 2030, when all public and volunteer health-care facilities there, plus a medical school, are physically linked up to form Health City Novena.

More facilities and services will be added, with the built-up area more than doubled from 250,000 sq m to 600,000 sq m - about the size of 85 football fields.

The number of beds will go up by a quarter to more than 2,200 - Singapore General Hospital currently has about 1,500 - with the bulk of the increase for step- down care such as rehabilitation.

This transformation, believed to be one of the largest public sector health-care projects, will have a price tag in the billions.

Launched yesterday by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and led by National Healthcare Group (NHG), together with Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and the Health Ministry, the project will see space-efficient multi-storey blocks replace low-rise old buildings.

This is necessary as the health city will sit on 17ha of land, down from the 27ha it now occupies.

Land in Novena is expensive - private health-care group Parkway's 2008 bid of $1,600 for each sq ft of Mount Elizabeth Novena is evidence of that.

TTSH will be one of 10 buildings to be linked by aerial bridges and underpasses to create a more seamless transition for patients as they move from one facility to another for varying levels of care.

This is especially key for the elderly, who often need a longer recovery time and are less mobile. Transfers will be done indoors, and there will be no need to register and be means-tested again.

NHG chief executive Chee Yam Cheng said Health City Novena "aims to shape the future health care of Singapore", and it will explore more efficient models of care that rely on less manpower.

Mr Gan, speaking at the launch, described the city as "a key component" of Singapore's aim to develop medical excellence, and provide more accessible and better care.

New facilities will include a larger National Skin Centre, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and an ambulatory centre for outpatient treatment and day surgery.

A new National Centre for Infectious Diseases will be built, replacing the Communicable Disease Centre, whose 10ha space will go back to the Government.

The land now occupied by the Dover Park Hospice is slated for a new medical school, but no details on this are available yet.

The hospice will relocate to a new Integrated Intermediate Care Hub.

The site will also have public gardens and parks.

Said Mr Gan: "Health City Novena has been conceptualised with the community in mind, with health trails, eco trails and heritage trails for community use."

Day surgery to be key feature of new health city
Facility near Novena MRT will help tackle an expected rise in demand
By Salma Khalik, The Straits Times, 31 Aug 2013

ONE of the key functions of Health City Novena - the mega health-care complex that will be ready by 2030 - will be to cater to the growing number of day surgery patients.

Today, about 70 per cent of all operations at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) are outpatient treatments, with patients going home the same day.

This is 40 per cent more than a decade ago, when half of treatments required at least a night in hospital. With continuing advances in medicine and procedures, the demand for day surgery is expected to grow even more.

To keep up with this increase, outpatient services at the health city will be housed in a new building sited near Novena MRT station, to make it easier for patients.

At the other end of the city will be Nanyang Technological University's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and other educational facilities.

This will create a "shield" for inpatient facilities, such as TTSH and Dover Park Hospice, located in the heart of the health city, said TTSH chief operating officer Eugene Soh.

Patients will also have their privacy protected by being moved between buildings through indoor, third-floor links.

Today, it is not uncommon to see a patient wheeled around on the ground floor amid heavy pedestrian traffic.

But not all the 15,000 people who pass through the area every day are there for the medical facilities. Many are just taking a shortcut to Novena MRT station and shopping areas.

By 2030, traffic is expected to hit 30,000 pedestrians a day.

Professor Chee Yam Cheng, head of the National Healthcare Group which runs many of the facilities in Novena including TTSH, is encouraging nearby residents to continue this.

He wants them to keep healthy by walking and exercising in Health City Novena's heritage and eco-trails.

The whole area will be a pedestrian haven with its network of overhead bridges and broad underpasses, sprinkled with shops and food and beverage outlets.

To ease the flow of traffic, there will be many entrances along the periphery of Health City Novena, providing access to a large inter-linked underground carpark and various drop-off points.

Links will provide convenience and shelter from rain, sun
By Poon Chian Hui, The Straits Times, 31 Aug 2013

PATIENTS, students and even residents in Novena are eagerly waiting for the new amenities which Health City Novena will offer.

To be ready by 2030, the project will create the single largest integrated health complex in the country with 10 buildings physically linked by aerial bridges and underpasses.

This means patients can simply walk from one facility to another, without ambulances - rain or shine.

Regular outpatient visitors, such as 66-year-old heart patient Michael Poh, will not have to travel far, given that Tan Tock Seng Hospital's (TTSH) new ambulatory centre will sit right next to Novena MRT station.

"In time to come, it will be much less of a hassle," said Mr Poh, who suffered a heart attack in 1999 and has been visiting a specialist at the hospital since, often by the MRT.

With the 17ha complex also including parks, open spaces and boulevards, patients have a place for support activities.

Said Mr Poh, an insurance agent, who belongs to the TTSH's cardiac rehabilitation support group: "With wards taking up all the space, we usually have to meet at a stadium to exercise. Next time, we can just meet in Novena instead."

For 19-year-old medical student Ryan Chen, the best part of the health complex is how health-care delivery, research and education will all come under one roof.

The Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine will be part of a learning hub, connected to hospitals and specialist centres.

With doctors, health-care workers, researchers and students within walking distance of one another, it is easier to share ideas and work on projects, explained Mr Chen, calling this "thrilling".

Contractor Chua Lai Teck, who has lived in Novena all his 56 years, appreciates how the character and history of the area will be preserved.

Three heritage buildings, including two belonging to the Tuberculosis Control Unit that has been around since the 1960s, will remain untouched. Heritage trails will be integrated into the surrounding facilities, shopping malls and transport network.

"I remember playing there as a child," said Mr Chua, whose family used to livewhere TTSH now stands. "It is good that they are conserving that part of history, the good old memories."

While the construction to come may be a nuisance, it has to be "tolerated", he said, because of the need to develop the area.

He said: "If residents are informed, it should be all right."