New Eastern General and Community Hospitals to Meet Singapore’s Growing Healthcare Needs in the East

• The new Eastern General Hospital Campus at Bedok North will open around 2029 to 2030.

• It will have about 1,400 beds and provide inpatient and outpatient services across a comprehensive range of clinical specialties and care settings.

• It will be a purpose-built “phygital” hospital campus, with accessible and patient-centred care enabled by technology and personalised care models, and robust community partnerships.

Singapore, 20 April 2024 – The new Eastern General and Community Hospitals (collectively known as the EGH Campus) in Bedok North held its official groundbreaking ceremony today, officiated by Minister for Health Mr Ong Ye Kung.

The EGH Campus, which is operated by SingHealth, comprises two hospitals – the Eastern General Hospital (EGH) that will provide a comprehensive suite of emergency care, inpatient and outpatient clinical specialties; and the Eastern Community Hospital (ECH) that will provide continuing and rehabilitative care services, including specialised programmes for palliative patients, patients with dementia and patients with medical conditions to improve their work ability and facilitate an early return-to-work.

The new hospital campus is expected to open around 2029 to 2030. When fully operational, it will add about 1,400 beds to augment Singapore’s healthcare capacity. It is strategically located beside Bedok North MRT station to bring care closer to residents living in the eastern region of Singapore. Please refer to Annex A for key facts and figures of the EGH Campus.

“As Singapore’s society continues to age rapidly, there is a need to develop holistic care for residents in their respective healthcare journeys. The new Eastern General and Community Hospitals will provide a safety net for residents who need urgent, acute as well as continuing medical care. We are also working with our community partners to make EGH a hospital without walls, where we help residents who are ready for community-based care complete their recovery journey in the comfort of their homes with their loved ones, neighbours and friends close by. Additionally, through close collaborations with our primary care and community partners, we aim to help residents in the east proactively take charge of and regain their health so that they can live long and well. Guided by EGH’s vision to be a great hospital for the community, and SingHealth Community Hospitals' vision of bridging care and building communities, we hope that the EGH Campus will be an integral part of the community we serve and bring positive impact to residents for generations to come,” said Professor Lee Chien Earn, Chairman, EGH Hospital Planning Committee and Deputy Group CEO (Regional Health System), SingHealth.

Enhancing Care Delivery with Phygital Technologies and Innovations

Drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, the EGH Campus will see a paradigm shift in the way healthcare services are delivered. It will be a purpose-built “phygital” hospital campus which integrates physical healthcare services with digital solutions to transform care delivery, enhance productivity and treatment outcomes, as well as ensure continuity of care within the hospital and in the community. Modalities such as telehealth, virtual and remote medicine, and wearable technology will be utilised to increase care accessibility, efficiency and care capabilities, while ensuring that the care provided takes into account each person’s unique circumstances and preserves the human touch.

For example, the EGH Campus team is designing and testing new innovations such as digital twin and ambient intelligence technologies that can be used in wards. Rehabilitation will also be provided in a transformative way with the use of exoskeleton suits and AI-assisted tele-rehabilitation solutions being explored. With technology augmenting staff workload, healthcare professionals can better focus on clinical duties and caring for patients. Please refer to Annex B for more details on phygital solutions that are being developed for the EGH Campus.

Delivering Quality Care through One SingHealth

The EGH Campus will draw from expertise across the hospitals and specialty centres in SingHealth, the largest public healthcare cluster in Singapore. Residents and patients will have access to national specialty services close to their homes through the Campus’ collaborations with SingHealth institutions such as the National Dental Centre Singapore, National Cancer Centre Singapore, National Heart Centre Singapore, National Neuroscience Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre. Care teams will work together to calibrate service delivery as a cohesive unit to deliver person-centred, expert care to patients.

“With our One SingHealth approach, patients at the Eastern General and Community Hospitals will be able to access SingHealth’s integrated network of clinical specialties, comprehensive spectrum of services and the wide range of experience of our healthcare professionals. They can look forward to person-centred care that is built upon a strong foundation of over 200 years of clinical excellence and expertise across our SingHealth institutions,” said Professor Ng Wai Hoe, Group Chief Executive Officer, SingHealth.

Fostering a Healthier SG with the Community

Patients recovering from an acute illness will require appropriate support to facilitate their recovery process, and the EGH Campus will play a vital role to help patients with this transition. For example, at the community hospital, patients will participate in rehabilitation programmes that help them regain independence before returning home. They will also be linked to community resources and leverage SingHealth Community Hospitals’ (SCH) existing partnerships and programmes for ongoing community support after discharge. These are part of an integrated approach to empower them to get well and live well in the community, in line with the nation’s Healthier SG strategy.

The EGH Campus team has begun fostering collaborations with partners in the region, including primary care physicians, Silver Generation Offices, nursing homes and Active Ageing Centres, to understand the health and social needs of residents.

“As part of Singapore’s only cluster of community hospitals, ECH will tap on SCH’s network to form key partnerships with many healthcare and community partners, bringing the benefits of these collaborations to residents living in the East. Collectively, ECH and our partners will be able to deliver seamless care transitions for our patients from hospital to home, enabled by our signature social prescribing programme that connects patients with social and health-promoting community assets to support patients’ overall wellbeing. Together as one EGH Campus, we will be a key part of a larger ecosystem of healthcare providers and community organisations working together to serve residents in eastern Singapore,” said Associate Professor Gan Wee Hoe, Chief Executive Officer, SCH, which oversees the operations for ECH.

Building Future and Pandemic-Ready Healthcare Infrastructure

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for healthcare infrastructure to be agile, adaptable and flexible to manage future disease outbreak and emergency scenarios. The EGH Campus’ infrastructure design factors in spaces that work well in peacetime, but can be quickly converted and scaled in accordance with the need to respond to rapidly evolving situations. The Campus’ infrastructure is also designed to protect the health and wellness of healthcare professionals and the general patient population during an outbreak.

With the EGH Campus’ proximity to Bedok Reservoir Park and Bedok Town Park, the EGH Campus team is working with the National Parks Board to study how the hospital spaces can be seamlessly integrated with the surrounding natural environment. Such spaces are not only important for environmental sustainability, which is one of the Campus’ areas of focus, but also beneficial for the mental, emotional and physical wellness of patients, caregivers and staff.

The groundbreaking ceremony today was held as part of the EGH Campus Groundbreaking & Community Day which was attended by about 650 participants including healthcare leaders and staff, community partners, residents as well as members of the public. In the Community Day segment of the event, participants were invited to find out more about the new EGH Campus, tour community partners’ showcase booths, and participate in games, activities and a mass workout.