New SGH centre for non-emergency operations will shorten patients' waiting time when ready in 2026

(From left) National Dental Centre Singapore Director, Clinical Assoc Prof Poon Choy Yoke, SingHealth chairman Peter Seah, Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor, SingHealth group CEO Ivy Ng, Singapore General Hospital CEO Kenneth Kwek at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new SGH Elective Care Centre and National Dental Centre Singapore Building on Jan 21, 2020. PHOTO: SINGHEALTH

SINGAPORE - Patients at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) can expect a shorter wait for operation from 2026, when a new centre focused on non-emergency surgery is completed.

The hospital said the Elective Care Centre (ECC), which had its groundbreaking ceremony yesterday, will free up resources in the main hospital for complex procedures and emergencies cases.

Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor said on Tuesday (Jan 21) the ECC is expected to perform more than 40 per cent of the total volume of surgery at SGH.

It is designed as a facility for scheduled operations on the musculoskeletal systems, ear, nose and throat, and breasts, among others.

It is a key part of the SGH Campus Masterplan, which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched in February 2016.

The plan aims to triple the space devoted to patient care in 20 years.

It will also move services with a high volume of patients closer to Outram Park MRT station, making SGH more accessible by public transport to patients and visitors.

The ECC will house the new National Dental Centre.

Dr Khor said the ECC's various clinical facilities and beds for hospitalised patients will help to meet Singapore's increasing healthcare demand.

On the new dental centre, she said it will use new technologies to give patients better treatment in a shorter time.

For example, it will host 3D-printing technologies, which will produce dentures that are faster to make than traditional dentures.

The dental centre will also be designed to better serve the needs of elderly patients, in light of the growing ageing population.

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