Expanded Alexandra Hospital to house 1,300 beds, nursing home

Operations to continue during revamp; NUH will also undergo redevelopment

- Joyce Teo

From 2028, the 300-bed Alexandra Hospital in Queenstown will be transformed into a bigger hospital comprising about 1,300 beds in total, with the addition of two new high-rise buildings among other upgrades.

The National University Hospital (NUH) campus will also be redeveloped over more than 10 years, starting from 2025, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung announced on May 15 at the ground-breaking ceremony for Alexandra Hospital's (AH) redevelopment.

These are part of the Government's plans to increase hospital capacity to meet rising needs. In April, construction work began for the Eastern General Hospital in Bedok North, which will have 1,400 beds.

AH was built by the British in 1938 as the British Military Hospital Singapore. Its redevelopment includes a new pandemic-ready emergency department that is directly connected to the intensive care unit and operating theatre.

Public ambulances will be able to ferry patients living in the vicinity to its emergency department.

Currently, AH has a 24-hour urgent care centre, rather than an emergency department.

The 1,300 beds at the redeveloped AH will include beds for patients in hospice and psychiatric care. AH did not provide details on how tall the two new high-rise buildings will be.

A nursing home with about 400 beds will also be built on the same campus, located in a separate building from the two high-rise ones.