Health Minister Ong Ye Kung 'dismayed' at company's S$52,000 monthly rental bid for Tampines clinic
MOH and HDB have launched a new tender approach for GP clinics at HDB estates, where quality of care accounts for 70 per cent of the evaluation and rental makes up 30 per cent.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung speaking at a media conference at the National Press Centre on May 21, 2025. (File photo: CNA/Marcus Mark Ramos)
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SINGAPORE: Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said he was "dismayed" at a healthcare company's S$52,188Â (US$40,500) monthly rental bid for a clinic in a Housing and Development Board (HDB) estate in Tampines.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday night (Jun 4), Mr Ong said: "This must translate to higher cost of healthcare one way or another, and negate the effort of (the) Ministry of Health (MOH) to try to keep the cost of primary healthcare affordable.
"More importantly, higher rental bids do not necessarily translate to the best healthcare that the community needs."
The successful bid for the ground floor unit at Block 954C Tampines Street 96Â by I-Health Medical Holdings in January has led to discussions online about rental fees and healthcare costs.
The rental works out to over S$1,000 per sq m, said Mr Ong.
HDB said the tender for the Tampines clinic attracted 13 bids and was awarded to Dr Shaun Lum, the co-owner of I-Health, in March 2025.
"This is significantly higher than the average tendered rent of around S$9,800 per month for similar-sized clinics let by HDB in 2024 and it is also the highest per square foot rent that HDB has received for GP and dental clinics of this size to date," HDB said on Wednesday night in response to media queries and reports.Â
HDB said all tenders awarded for GP clinics so far are based on tendered price.
Bids submitted by tenderers, including private clinic operators, are business decisions influenced by various factors, including location, shop size, trades, and prevailing market conditions.
"The rental for this Tampines clinic does not set any price requirements for future tenders by HDB, and it also will not affect the rentals that HDB is charging other existing clinics," it said.Â
Recent winning rental bids for clinics ranged from S$4,200 to S$40,088, excluding I-Health Medical Holdings’ bid of S$52,188.
The second-highest winning bid this year so far was a S$40,088 bid at Tengah Garden Walk that closed in January.
Other bids include a S$25,388 bid at Tampines Street 64 that also closed in January, as well as a S$16,800 bid at Telok Blangah Heights that closed in March.
NEW TENDER APPROACH
Mr Ong noted that MOH and HDB last month launched a new tender approach for general practitioner (GP) clinics at Bartley Beacon.
In the new approach, quality of care will account for 70 per cent of the tender evaluation, and rental will make up 30 per cent.
The unit is about 100 sq m – twice the size of normal clinics – and suited for clinics which intend to provide multi-disciplinary care and "try out new care models", he added.
“Through this Price-Quality evaluation Model (PQM), we can shift the competitive focus away from rental rates, to better care models, including preventive care, chronic disease management and mental health,” Mr Ong said.
HDB said the tender for the Bartley Beacon site closed on May 29 with 18 tenderers.
“I understand from my MOH officers that we have received interesting proposals, with rental bid prices significantly below the Tampines site in per sq m terms. We are currently assessing the proposals,” the health minister said.
HDB said the aim is to award the tender by August, and that MOH and HDB are looking to extend the pilot to future GP clinics that are rented from HDB.
Mr Ong noted the Tampines clinic was tendered in December 2024 and awarded in March this year, before the PQM model started.
“Going forward, and given the encouraging response to the Bartley Beacon site, we will make the new PQM approach the norm, when tendering our GP clinics in our HDB heartlands,” Mr Ong said.
“It will be a meaningful shift, both in improving primary care, and ensuring greater affordability.”
MOH said on May 8 that under this model, HDB will evaluate the tender price while the health ministry assesses the quality of the proposals. This includes operational plans such as opening hours.
It will consider the care models, such as whether the clinic offers multidisciplinary care and the range of services available for chronic disease management.
The ministry will also look at manpower quality - an example of this would be if the clinic team has undergone relevant training.
I-HEALTH'S RESPONSE
In a statement on Friday, Dr Lum said that I-Health has worked on the aspects of quality listed in the PQM model since the firm started in 2018.
"We did not do it for tender or because of rent, but because of a doctor's motivation to provide better care for patients. And I know many of my fellow doctors do this as well, to help patients, gain trust and deliver better care," he said.
On the care models, Dr Lum said that I-Health's current clinics were already enrolled in various government healthcare schemes and working with the Central North Primary Care Network to offer eye and foot screening to diabetes patients.
It is also working on "several tie-ups and collaborations" to add value to the community, he said.
I-Health's staff are trained on how to communicate well with patients, and have been offered various training courses to "ensure they grow as people and in their careers", added Dr Lum.
He also pointed out that I-Health's clinics aim to stay open for as long as possible to serve as many patients as they can. At the same time, he stressed that they also ensure that staff do not clock overtime hours "unnecessarily".
