MOH probing LC Nursing Home founder for possible non-disclosure of disciplinary actions during licensing

SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) is investigating whether LC Nursing Home founder Chia Yang Pong failed to disclose that disciplinary actions had been taken against him by the healthcare regulatory authorities, when he applied for a licence for LC Nursing Home.

Its spokesman said that under the Healthcare Services Act (HCSA), Chia is deemed a key appointment holder at LC Nursing Home, based on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s (ACRA) records that list him as director of LC Nursing Home.

Under the HCSA, this role does not require medical expertise or technical oversight as a medical practitioner and Chia does not hold other appointments such as principal officer or clinical governance officer. MOH said it is “unable to comment further at this stage in the light of the ongoing investigations”.

Chia was struck off the medical register in 2004 in a high-profile case, when eight doctors from his Grace Polyclinic chain were punished for indiscriminately prescribing addictive sleeping pills.

The authorities inspected all branches in November 2002, and found that benzodiazepines had been improperly prescribed to 80 patients, without a proper record of their symptoms and condition.

That year, Chia, then the sole licensee of Grace Polyclinic, a chain of seven medical clinics, was brought to a disciplinary committee by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC).

It said that what Chia did “was essentially a systematic prescription of hypnotic drugs to the patients” and accused him of “freely dispensing the hypnotic drugs... without any regard to their medical conditions, health, interest or the harm that might come to them”. It also took him to task for his “lack of control” regarding the way the locums at his seven clinics treated patients.

Chia faced 80 charges of professional misconduct which he pleaded guilty to and was subsequently fined $65,000 by the committee, and struck off the medical register, a decision he appealed against. He saw his fine reduced to $10,000.

LC Nursing Home was the second nursing home to be slapped with a closing down order by MOH in June, on the heels of Windsor Convalescent Home in Pasir Panjang.

Located at 2 Jalan Ulu Siglap, LC Nursing Home was found to have “serious and systemic lapses” in complying with HCSA requirements, said MOH in a statement on June 29.

The Straits Times had earlier made checks on corporate intelligence platform Sayari and found LC Nursing Home is closely tied to another company, Margaret Chio Nursing Home, both sharing the same address at Jalan Ulu Siglap, and linked through five current and past directors.

In its reply to ST queries sent on June 30, MOH said Margaret Chio Nursing Home was a licensed nursing home but has ceased to provide licensed nursing home services since June 2010 and that the original site where Margaret Chio Nursing Home operated is also no longer used to provide licensed nursing home services.

A spokesman for MOH said all nursing homes are audited regularly to ensure continued compliance with HCSA and providers with identified concerns are closely monitored, including through off-cycle audits, where the ministry works with homes “to address lapses and assess whether rectifications can be sustained”.

“Where non-compliances are identified, all nursing homes are required to rectify them effectively and sustainably, as part of their role and responsibilities in providing safe care for their residents, which would necessitate some time,” he said.

“However, for LC Nursing Home, recent MOH audits showed that the rectifications were neither fully implemented nor sustained.”

MOH also provides support such as manpower- and training-related funding through the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) “to maintain an appropriate standard of care and training to equip the sector with the necessary skill sets to adhere to the required standards of care”.

MOH said there are sufficient beds within the nursing home sector to facilitate the transfer of affected residents from both LC Nursing Home and Windsor Convalescent Home, and AIC will work with the affected residents and their families to ensure timely placement to other nursing homes based on their eligibility, specific needs and preferences.

It will also monitor the transfer process closely and assess if further measures are needed to ensure continuity of care for all affected residents.

Residents who are newly seeking subsidised care services will be assessed based on their needs and financial means, based on existing means-testing criteria, and eligible residents will be provided with financial support where needed.

“There is no need for the affected residents to seek a referral from the hospital or polyclinic,” the spokesman added.

As at end-2025, there were 29 private nursing homes in Singapore. Based on MOH records, around 10 per cent of all nursing homes in Singapore have licensed capacities of 100 beds or fewer.