RENOVATION OF THE KANDANG KERBAU HOSPITAL

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Health if he will justify the cost-effectiveness of spending $5.5 million on upgrading the Kandang Kerbau Hospital as the Hospital will be moving to its new premises in 1997.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: The renovations to Kandang Kerbau Hospital were undertaken in the period immediately before and after its restructuring in April 1990. The new KK Hospital is scheduled to be operational in its new premises in 1997. The costs of the renovations are therefore being amortised over a period of 7 years. The renovations were necessary for the following reasons:

1. the last major repair works and painting of the hospital had been done more than five years prior to that date, and the buildings were grossly in need of repair and maintenance;

2. at the time of restructuring more facilities were required to accommodate an additional Department of Neonatology (transferred from Alexandra Hospital) and an additional Department of O & G (comprising the Departments of O & G from Alexandra Hospital and Toa Payoh Hospital) and to cater to anticipated increase in patient load;

3. certain facilities were clearly unacceptable even for a very basic level of service to patients, for example, delivery rooms which were shared by four patients.

The increased patient load that KK Hospital has had to handle within its present facilities in the last four years is as follows: 1989 1993 Increase Births 12,291 15,858 29% Admissions 29,648 40,813 38% Outpatient Attendances 117,929 202,427 72%

KKH has to continue providing a reasonable level of service, and handling these and continued increasing patient loads on an operational level in the current hospital until the new hospital is ready.