Integrated polyclinics open in Bukit Panjang and Kallang
One is located with a nursing home; the other is joined with a hospital for the chronically ill
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Two polyclinics that are co-located with related facilities officially opened yesterday, one in Bukit Panjang and the other in Kallang.
Bukit Panjang Polyclinic is integrated with Senja Care Home, while Kallang Polyclinic is joined with Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital.
Senja Care Home has 365 beds and 60 day-care places, offering community rehabilitation and physiotherapy. Kwong Wai Shiu's long-term care facility has 128 beds, for patients who have advanced and complicated chronic medical conditions that require long-term nursing and frequent medical care.
A polyclinic slated to open in Eunos in December will also be co-located with a senior care centre.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who officially opened Bukit Panjang Polyclinic, said: "By co-locating polyclinics with healthcare facilities or community facilities, which include amenities such as sports centres, we open up opportunities to develop joint programmes that cater to holistic care and improve the health of the population."
Bukit Panjang Polyclinic occupies three floors in a 12-storey building and is the first to be integrated with a nursing home.
With the addition of the two polyclinics, there are now 22 in Singapore.
Mr Ong also announced that the Bukit Merah and Outram polyclinics will be consolidated into a larger, more spacious one in Tiong Bahru by 2030, equipped with a wider range of capabilities to better serve residents. These include elderly-friendly and accessibility features.
Nine more polyclinics will be opened over the next nine years, all with integrated developments, said the minister.
This is in line with the Ministry of Health's plan to expand the country's polyclinic network to 32 by 2030.
On joining polyclinics with related facilities, Mr Ong cited Sembawang Polyclinic, which is part of an upcoming community hub called Bukit Canberra. It will be co-located with sports facilities such as swimming pools, a gym, an indoor sports hall, a park and a hawker centre.
He said that primary care in the community "must increasingly anchor our healthcare system".
"We are operating against the backdrop of an ageing population and concomitant increase in the incidence of chronic disease," said Mr Ong.
"We therefore need to shift the focus of our healthcare upstream to preventive care within the community at the primary care level, and that way have early disease management to reduce downstream health complications... That's something we must do as our population ages."
He added that by the time a patient has to visit the hospital due to severe chronic diseases, "it's too late, too expensive and too big a burden on the family and also on our whole healthcare system".
Polyclinics will also progressively implement new models of care such as team-based care, where chronic patients would be managed by regular, multi-disciplinary care teams.
"By allowing the same care team to attend to the patient, there is continuity, and more importantly, it builds a relationship and trust between patients and their care team," said Mr Ong.
In a Facebook post yesterday, the minister also noted that it has been four years since a new polyclinic was opened. He thanked everyone who "worked very hard to deliver these primary care services for our residents".
