New infectious diseases hospital to be ready by 2018

A new infectious disease hospital at Novena, next to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), will be ready by 2018.

The hospital will house patients with infectious diseases and have facilities such as intensive care units, laboratories, and X-ray centres.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Sars commemoration event marking a decade since the crisis, TTSH chief executive Philip Choo said the new hospital would be "self-contained" and be able to look after infected patients in the event of an outbreak like Sars.

TTSH was the Sars-designated hospital during the 2003 epidemic. Sars infected 238 people and claimed 33 lives in Singapore.

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