(Above) Site of the Outram Community Hospital. Click on the image for Channel News Asia’s report of the Outram Community Hospital in central Singapore. (Below) two views of the landscaped and naturally ventilated hospital.
Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has officially opened the SingHealth Tower and Outram Community Hospital (OCH). The 545-bed Outram Community Hospital (OCH) in the 19-storey SingHealth Tower is linked to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) at Levels 3 and 4. The Tower also houses facilities, such as the central kitchen and sterile supplies unit vital for the daily operations of the SGH campus.
In Singapore, community hospitals play a key role to help patients recover, rehabilitate and reintegrate into the community, reserving hospitals for emergency and acute care.
While SGH provides acute care, OCH provides mostly sub-acute care it has the advantage of being located in close proximity to SGH.
B+H Architects, in collaboration with STH Architects and CIAP Architects, were responsible for both the SingHealth Tower and OCH. The main design objective of OCH was to provide a conducive environment for patients who are out of critical care, rehabilitating, or receiving palliative care treatment.
The team took care to ensure patients enjoy access to natural light and landscaped outdoor spaces, including a rooftop rehabilitation center. Wards are naturally ventilated and each is equipped with day rooms for physiotherapy and other rehabilitative exercises. OCH also offers inpatient hospice palliative care services for those who cannot be cared for at home to let them live out their last days in dignity and comfort. For patients who prefer to stay at home and still access palliative care, OCH also offers a day hospice service – the first such service co-located in a community hospital in Singapore.
This project is a part of the Outram Park Master Plan for the 200-year-old SGH. Other plans include a new cancer center and a new Emergency Medicine Building. The total development budget for Phase One is about S$4 billion, Mr. Ong noted. OCH started operating in November 2019, just before Covid-19 struck – a point that Mr. Ong said Singapore was “deeply thankful for” for as OCH provided much-needed support when demand for hospital beds surged.
Read more and see the news coverage here
Project Contact:
David Stavros | Senior Design Principal | Executive Vice President, Asia, Principal
B+H Architects
E: [email protected]
