Delays hit hospital's opening

THE December opening of the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in Jurong East will be delayed by about six months due to construction delays, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the National Day Rally yesterday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that it will add about 150 beds from the end of 2014 to help mitigate the impact of the delay.

Existing efforts to increase capacity will also be sped up. The 280-bed Changi General Hospital-St Andrew's Community Hospital Integrated Bulding will open in stages between December 2014 and the first half of 2015. MOH, which has already added about 800 home care places since January this year, will also increase nursing home capacity through the end of 2015.