Orange Valley opens sixth nursing home

Balestier facility is first private home to offer outpatient rehabilitation service

Above: Orange Valley Nursing Homes deputy CEO Lyn Edel Yip says it is hoping to use one of the wards in its new Balestier facility for dementia patients. Left: Physiotherapists from Orange Valley Nursing Homes' new facility in Balestier demonstrating
Physiotherapists from Orange Valley Nursing Homes' new facility in Balestier demonstrating how the bed therapy unit works. The motorised device provides intensive therapy, allowing bedbound residents to mobilise their arms and legs. ST PHOTOS: LIM YAOHUI
Above: Orange Valley Nursing Homes deputy CEO Lyn Edel Yip says it is hoping to use one of the wards in its new Balestier facility for dementia patients. Left: Physiotherapists from Orange Valley Nursing Homes' new facility in Balestier demonstrating
Orange Valley Nursing Homes deputy CEO Lyn Edel Yip says it is hoping to use one of the wards in its new Balestier facility for dementia patients. ST PHOTOS: LIM YAOHUI

Orange Valley Nursing Homes has opened its sixth home, in Balestier, making it the largest operator of such facilities here with more than 1,000 beds.

Its latest nursing home started operations on Jan 2 and has 118 beds, supported by nearly 20 staff, Orange Valley told the media during a tour of the new home yesterday.

The new facility will also offer short-term stays, as well as step-down care options when caregivers or family members are not available, or when round-the-clock supervision and medical care are required.

It will also provide rehabilitation services for both inpatient and outpatient cases, such as for those who have had amputation or joint surgery, or suffered a stroke or Parkinson's disease.

It is the first privately owned nursing home to provide outpatient rehabilitation services, said Ms Cassandra Lim, assistant vice-president of ambulatory services and special projects at Orange Valley Nursing Homes.

The cost of staying at the home ranges from $3,500 for private patients who opt for the open ward to $9,000 for a private one-bedded room a month.

The open wards are also available for subsidised patients.

  • 1,000

    Orange Valley Nursing Homes is the largest operator of such facilities here, with more than this number of beds.

  • 118

    Number of beds in Orange Valley's latest nursing home in Balestier. The home is supported by nearly 20 staff.

According to the Singapore Silver Pages website by the Agency for Integrated Care, which oversees community care here, it costs between $1,200 and $3,500 a month to stay in a nursing home, before means testing.

"We are working very closely with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)... AIC waiting time is always jammed up with dementia patients, so we are hoping to use one of the wards (in Balestier) for dementia patients," said Ms Lyn Edel Yip, deputy chief executive officer of Orange Valley Nursing Homes.

The Balestier facility adds to existing Orange Valley nursing homes in Changi, Clementi, Marsiling, Simei and Sims Avenue.

Orange Valley Nursing Homes is the nursing-home arm of Invest Healthcare, an eldercare service provider which also offers services such as home care, senior activity centres and ambulance services.

Invest Healthcare was acquired by media group Singapore Press Holdings for $164 million in April last year.

Econ Healthcare, NTUC Health, St Andrew's Mission Hospital and Catholic Welfare Services round up the top five nursing home operators here, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Health.

Within the next three to five years, Orange Valley Nursing Homes is planning to provide services for psychiatric patients whose conditions have stabilised, added Ms Yip.

It also plans to explore mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures in countries such as Malaysia and Japan.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 18, 2018, with the headline Orange Valley opens sixth nursing home. Subscribe