SINGAPORE - 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 on Wednesday (Jan 17).

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.

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're 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.