Vacant buildings to be converted into hostels as temporary housing for new foreign healthcare staff
SINGAPORE — A new hostel-type accommodation will be provided for foreign healthcare workers who are new to Singapore and employed by public healthcare institutions, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and MOH Holdings in a joint press release on Monday (Aug 7).
- A hostel-type accommodation will be provided for new foreign healthcare workers employed by public healthcare instutitions
- These hostels can accommodate a total of about 1,800 occupants and will provide temporary housing for workers
- The healthcare workers mainly comprise nurses and allied health professionals
- The Health Ministry said that this is part of its plan to ensure a steady flow of healthcare manpower to meet the nation’s growing healthcare demands
SINGAPORE — A new hostel-type accommodation will be provided for foreign healthcare workers who are new to Singapore and employed by public healthcare institutions, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and MOH Holdings said in a joint press release on Monday (Aug 7).
MOH Holdings, the holding company for Singapore's healthcare institutions, will be retrofitting existing vacant buildings to create the hostels for such workers, who are mainly nurses and allied health professionals.
The hostels are meant to be temporary accommodation for new workers, before they subsequently move out to housing options available in the market.
Adopting a co-living concept, each bedroom in the hostel is expected to be shared by two occupants and will include amenities such as a dining area, pantry, laundry room and common social spaces.
MOH Holdings has launched a request for proposal to appoint an operator to retrofit and manage the accommodation facilities at the following sites:
- 1A Short Street in Rochor
- 100 Ulu Pandan Road
- 107 Circuit Road
- 36 & 38 Teck Whye Crescent
- 60 Boundary Close in Serangoon Gardens
The sites, which were previously student hostels, schools or workers’ dormitories, can accommodate a total of about 1,800 occupants.
The works at the identified sites are expected to start from the end of this year, and complete progressively from the second quarter of next year.
MOH and MOH Holdings will be monitoring the use of the facilities at the five sites before assessing the need to develop 11 other potential sites.
In the press statement, MOH and MOH Holdings said that the hostels are one way to better onboard the healthcare workers after they first arrive in Singapore.
“This is part of the MOH’s plans to ensure a steady flow of healthcare manpower to meet Singapore’s growing healthcare demands,” MOH and MOH Holdings said.
“The pipeline comprises local talent which forms the majority of our healthcare workforce, and is complemented with trained foreign healthcare workers.”
TODAY has reached out to MOH for further comment.
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