MOH appoints operator for two nursing homes at Geylang East Central and Chai Chee Street

1.            The Ministry of Health has awarded the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the operation of the two Build-Own-Lease nursing homes at Geylang East Central and Chai Chee Street to NTUC Health Co-operative Ltd.

2.            The two nursing homes are part of MOH’s efforts to meet the needs of our ageing population by enhancing the accessibility, quality and affordability of aged care. MOH had earlier announced plans in 2012 to develop 10 nursing homes. MOH announced in 2014 that we were developing another 9 homes by 2020.

3.            The two nursing homes at Geylang East Central and Chai Chee Street were bundled together in the first RFP that involved more than one nursing home, as they are in the same geographical region. The RFP, which also included the operations of the senior care centres located within the nursing homes and home care services out of the nursing homes, was launched last August. The aim of bundling the two nursing homes is to also nurture the growth of larger players who are able to provide a comprehensive range of services that will support seniors across the various care settings, including those who are able to transit home from the nursing home. This is part of our three-pronged approach to expand, develop and offer more options in the nursing home sector. [For more information, please refer to the speech here.]

4.         Construction at the 236-bedded nursing home at Geylang East Central and the 342-bedded nursing home at Chai Chee Street are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017 and the fourth quarter of 2016 respectively.

5.         We received a total of 11 bids from both new and existing providers for this RFP. The RFP process was outcome driven with clearly spelt out service requirements and eligibility criteria to ensure that MOH selects providers who can deliver quality and affordable care. NTUC Health won the RFP based on its quality and price proposals taken together.  

6.         These two nursing homes are developed under our Build-Own-Lease model whereby the government absorbs the cost of the infrastructure development and leases out to operators who compete based on who can offer good quality and affordable care to patients.

7.         MOH is on track to develop 17,000 nursing home beds, 6,200 senior day care centre places and 10,000 home care places by 2020.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

8 MAY 2015