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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">2:23 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>10196.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Demand for cheaper health care up
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Increasing number of elderly and foreigners results in greater need for subsidised treatment</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Aaron Low
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE twin forces of an ageing population and an increasing pool of foreigners here are the main factors pushing up the demand for subsidised health care, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said yesterday.
He was responding to Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC), who wanted to know if there were sufficient subsidised beds in public hospitals to meet increased demand as more people seek cheaper health care in the current downturn.
The surge in demand, according to Mr Khaw, has in fact been at government polyclinics as people 'move to a cheaper sector'.
As for public hospitals, he said there has not been a noticeable jump in demand for subsidised beds. Admission rates have remained stable.
'The downturn and its impact on hospitalisation has yet to be seen. I have been looking at the admission figures (and) they remain quite stable,' he said.
While there has been a growing demand, he said that the 'main driver' of this increase 'is actually the ageing (population) and the sudden increase in total population here'.
About a million non-Singaporeans have been added to the population in the past decade, which he said was a 'very sharp increase' for a small population of about four million.
Nonetheless, the Health Ministry has been steadily increasing the number of subsidised hospital beds in the past few years to keep pace with the increased demand.
Some 258 beds were added in the past two years, while another 34 will become available this year.
This will bring the total number of subsidised hospital beds to 3,656.
Another 330 beds will be made available when the 550-bed Khoo Teck Puat hospital in Yishun opens next year.
'I will be happier had I started the Khoo Teck Puat construction two years before, but I can't change history. So we have been coping,' he said.
Mr Khaw said the Government was also keeping an eye on whether 'there may be a need for future hospitals' in the north-eastern area of Singapore, currently being served by Changi General.
Similarly, the Government is keeping the 350-bed Alexandra Hospital in Queenstown open until the Jurong General begins operations, he said.
But Mr Khaw was not keen on the idea of renting beds from private hospitals as a temporary measure to cope with the demand as private hospitals have rooms that do not correspond with the needs of a public hospital.
This was an idea mooted recently by the new chief of the National University Hospital, Mr Joe Sim. Mr Khaw said: 'But I think, more importantly, we have to make sure that we utilise our resources as best as we can. Occupancy rate, average occupancy rate, is about 85 per cent, which is all right.'
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Increasing number of elderly and foreigners results in greater need for subsidised treatment</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Aaron Low
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE twin forces of an ageing population and an increasing pool of foreigners here are the main factors pushing up the demand for subsidised health care, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said yesterday.
He was responding to Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC), who wanted to know if there were sufficient subsidised beds in public hospitals to meet increased demand as more people seek cheaper health care in the current downturn.
The surge in demand, according to Mr Khaw, has in fact been at government polyclinics as people 'move to a cheaper sector'.
As for public hospitals, he said there has not been a noticeable jump in demand for subsidised beds. Admission rates have remained stable.
'The downturn and its impact on hospitalisation has yet to be seen. I have been looking at the admission figures (and) they remain quite stable,' he said.
While there has been a growing demand, he said that the 'main driver' of this increase 'is actually the ageing (population) and the sudden increase in total population here'.
About a million non-Singaporeans have been added to the population in the past decade, which he said was a 'very sharp increase' for a small population of about four million.
Nonetheless, the Health Ministry has been steadily increasing the number of subsidised hospital beds in the past few years to keep pace with the increased demand.
Some 258 beds were added in the past two years, while another 34 will become available this year.
This will bring the total number of subsidised hospital beds to 3,656.
Another 330 beds will be made available when the 550-bed Khoo Teck Puat hospital in Yishun opens next year.
'I will be happier had I started the Khoo Teck Puat construction two years before, but I can't change history. So we have been coping,' he said.
Mr Khaw said the Government was also keeping an eye on whether 'there may be a need for future hospitals' in the north-eastern area of Singapore, currently being served by Changi General.
Similarly, the Government is keeping the 350-bed Alexandra Hospital in Queenstown open until the Jurong General begins operations, he said.
But Mr Khaw was not keen on the idea of renting beds from private hospitals as a temporary measure to cope with the demand as private hospitals have rooms that do not correspond with the needs of a public hospital.
This was an idea mooted recently by the new chief of the National University Hospital, Mr Joe Sim. Mr Khaw said: 'But I think, more importantly, we have to make sure that we utilise our resources as best as we can. Occupancy rate, average occupancy rate, is about 85 per cent, which is all right.'
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