After nearly 20 years, Singapore plans new non-profit private hospital

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government is set to designate a plot of land in the eastern part of the country for building a new private, non-profit, acute care hospital. This will be the first time in almost two decades that the government has allocated such land for this use. The plan was announced by the government during the 65th anniversary celebration of Mount Alvernia Hospital, the nation’s sole existing non-profit acute care hospital as of date. 

Minister Ong Ye Kung emphasised in his speech that public hospitals should not monopolise Singapore’s healthcare system, and that private healthcare and public hospitals are meant to complement each other rather than compete, as reported by Yan.sg.

In 1993, the government planned to expand the role of private hospitals so public hospitals could concentrate more on serving low- and middle-income patients. However, this vision has not yet been set in stone, since public hospitals still run about 80% of the nation’s hospital beds and treat around 90% of patients. As for private hospital beds, occupancy stands at a little over 50%. 

The government also stated that higher fees at private hospitals and rising private health insurance are some of the factors many patients to choose public hospitals. The government has introduced measures to narrow the insurance gap, and also stressed that not all private hospitals are expensive. 

The Minister stated that he hopes to see more hospitals like Mount Anvenia Hospital in the future. In support, the government is encouraging the development of lower‑cost private hospitals and has already announced plans for a second non‑profit acute care hospital located in the east, which is expected to house 300 to 400 beds.

The government plans to finalise the outcomes for this new private hospital in the second half of 2026, and to keep fees lower, there would be several conditions: a billing size limit, in which hospital bills must be kept within a certain percentile of the market and cannot become market leaders in pricing; a fixed-price land tendering method, where bidders will no longer compete on the highest bids, but focus on qualitative factors such as nursing models, cost-effectiveness, recruitment and training strategies and commitments and policies regarding affordable healthcare.

In the past, the government last tendered for land for a private hospital in 2008. With this experience, the winning bid was high, and a high-end private hospital was eventually built on the site. The government admitted that this resulted in a significant loss of medical staff from the public healthcare system, and it has made the Ministry of Health very cautious about increasing the number of private hospitals and their expansion. 

Mount Alvernia Hospital

Mount Alvernia Hospital (MAH) is Singapore’s only not‑for‑profit private general acute tertiary care hospital. It offers 340 beds and is supported by more than 370 on‑campus specialist doctors and around 1,400 accredited doctors.

As a not‑for‑profit institution, it channels any surplus into improving facilities, assisting the Assisi Hospice, and running outreach programs for underserved communities.