What will happen to Alexandra Hospital after the Sengkang Health team, which is currently operating at the heritage building, moves out next year?

The plan is for the National University Health System (NUHS) to take over, although details of what exactly it will do with the 79-year-old hospital are not yet available.

What is known for sure is that at least three blocks of the original colonial-style buildings will remain, as they were gazetted for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in June 2014.

Associate Professor Jason Phua, who is project lead for the Alexandra Campus Development Team, said the hospital will complement existing NUHS services in western Singapore.

Both the National University Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital come under the NUHS umbrella.

The group also oversees speciality centres such as the National University Heart Centre, Singapore, and several polyclinics.

"While operating Alexandra Hospital, NUHS will also be working closely with the Ministry of Health on a feasibility study to review the overall masterplan for the campus," Prof Phua said.

"We envision a new health-empowering green campus that will provide holistic and integrated care, and preserve Alexandra Hospital's healthcare heritage."

The hospital's current stewards from Sengkang Health will be moving into the 1,000-bed Sengkang General Hospital when it is ready next year.

During the debate on the Health Ministry's budget earlier this year, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that Alexandra has "tremendous potential for redevelopment".

He added that NUHS has been tasked to design new, innovative models of care, and test them at the Alexandra Campus.