Vacant buildings to turn into hostel accommodation for SG’s foreign HCWs

The retrofitted rooms are for newly employed Singapore public healthcare workers.

The MOH Holdings (MOHH) will be retrofitting existing vacant buildings to provide a hostel-like living concept for new Singapore healthcare workers hired by the government.

In a statement, MOHH said each bedroom is expected to be shared by two occupants, and the facilities will include amenities such as a dining area, pantry, laundry room, and common social spaces.

This incentive is part of MOH’s plans to attract manpower to meet Singapore’s growing healthcare demands. 

MOHH launched a Request for Proposal (RFP) on 7 August 2023 to appoint an operator to retrofit and manage the accommodation facilities at five sites, with the potential to house over 1,800 occupants (about 200 to 600 occupants at each site). 

Here are the locations:
a)    1A Short Street (site of former student hostel);
b)    100 Ulu Pandan Road (site of former student hostel);
c)    107 Circuit Road (site of former school);
d)    36 & 38 Teck Whye Crescent (site of former school); and
e)    60 Boundary Close (site of former workers’ dormitory).

The retrofitting will begin from end-2023 to the second quarter of 2024. The new foreign healthcare workers employed by the public healthcare institutions, comprising of nurses and allied health professionals, will be qualified for this new accommodation arrangement when they first arrive in Singapore, before they subsequently transit to housing options available in the market.

“The RFP also seeks proposals for another 11 potential sites, which include one brownfield site and 10 greenfield sites, as a preliminary study. MOH and MOHH will monitor the use of the facilities at the five sites listed above, before assessing the need to develop these additional sites,” MOH said.