‘Home-like’ setting for Ren Ci’s Ang Mo Kio facility

SINGAPORE — Ren Ci’s upcoming nursing home in Ang Mo Kio will incorporate Japanese-inspired features to promote social interaction and create a “home-like environment” for residents, with the use of decentralised lounges and dining areas each serving several beds.

Under a pilot initiative with the Ministry of Health (MOH), the nursing home will also have a Short-Stay Unit where residents are encouraged to continue active rehabilitation and attempt daily-living activities.

This is “so that they can regain their function and, more importantly, gain confidence to transit back home”, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, speaking at the official opening of Ren Ci’s nursing home in Bukit Batok today (Jan 23).

Eighty of the 470 beds in the 11-storey home — located at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 and Ave 8, and slated for completion next year — will be set aside to provide limited care of up to three months for patients who require a longer time to recuperate after being discharged from hospital.

More outdoor areas will also be incorporated into the new facility for seniors to go for walks safely within the compound.

Asked if it intends to expand the pilot to other nursing homes, the MOH said it would review future plans depending on the outcome of this initiative.

Ren Ci’s new home at Ang Mo Kio aims to mirror its Bukit Batok branch in that the facility features no boundaries. This is so the space can be shared with residents around the area. 

Ren Ci hopes the increased contact with the community would make Ren Ci residents feel less isolated, and will spur them on to work towards recovery.

The Ang Mo Kio facility will also house a Senior Care Centre (SCC) to provide daycare and rehabilitation services, putting it in line with the MOH’s push to integrate related services that would help support ageing-in-place.

Elaborating on the MOH’s efforts to improve the quality of aged care, Mr Gan said: “We want to enrich and expand the suite of aged-care services, and make care more person-centric and seamless.”

The new home will contribute to the 12,000 nursing home beds available in Singapore today, an increase from 9,000 in 2009. 

Under the Healthcare 2020 Masterplan, the MOH plans to increase the national capacity to 17,000 nursing beds by 2020.