Singapore, 29 September 2025 – After a 10-year hiatus, AH will progressively return to dealing with emergency ambulance services from 1 October 2025, beginning with the conveyance of eligible non-life-threatening cases by SCDF to AH’s 24-hour Urgent Care Centre (UCC). Eligible cases will be conveyed to AH if it is the nearest appropriate MOH-designated hospital by travel time.
This phased rollout will support AH’s ramp-up to become a fully operational Emergency Department (ED) after the re-developed hospital progressively opens from 2028 onwards. This will also support broader efforts to reduce ambulance turnaround times and balance patient load across Singapore’s EDs.
Background
Since 30 June 2015, AH has not received emergency ambulance conveyances following the closure of its ED for renovations, and its subsequent re-opening as an acute care clinic. Today, AH is equipped to handle medical emergencies and elective specialist surgeries, while also providing inpatient care for patients with acute conditions.
Besides emergency ambulances, patients can be conveyed to AH’s UCC by private ambulances, referred by polyclinics and general practitioners (GPs), or as walk-ins. AH’s UCC offers treatment for non-life-threatening conditions compared to EDs and is staffed by emergency medicine specialists and nurses with specialised emergency training.
AH’s UCC Phased Rollout
From 1 October 2025, eligible non-life-threatening cases will be received by AH’s UCC from Mondays to Fridays, 8 am to 5 pm, including public holidays. With this initiative, AH is estimated to accommodate an additional 10 to 15 patients daily.
In subsequent phases, AH will gradually begin accepting more complex cases, including life-threatening emergencies, leading up to its full ED operations after the re-developed hospital progressively opens from 2028 onwards.
Examples of Eligible Non-Life-Threatening Cases
Examples of conditions that may be received by AH’s UCC during the initial phased rollout include:
AH is currently equipped with facilities and services for acute inpatient and outpatient care, including inpatient beds, operating theatres, diagnostic imaging services, ICU, specialist outpatient clinics, and a rehabilitation centre. It will be transformed and redeveloped into a bigger campus progressively from 2028, with more facilities and fully integrated with the larger Queenstown community. Throughout the redevelopment period, AH will remain open and fully operational, continuing to provide round-the-clock care and services to patients.
Dr Keith Ho, senior consultant emergency physician and Head of AH’s Urgent Care Centre, said, “Alexandra Hospital is well-equipped to manage a wide spectrum of medical emergencies. Last year, AH handled over 23,000 Urgent Care Centre (UCC) visits, 11,000 admissions, and 85,000 outpatient clinic appointments. With the growing patient load amid ongoing redevelopment, this phased approach ensures we are systematically scaling up our capabilities. It allows AH to progressively integrate a full spectrum of emergency care services while strengthening national capacity for urgent medical needs. This move also prepares us for the full opening of our Emergency Department upon the hospital’s redevelopment."
| Chinese Glossary | |
| National University Health System (NUHS) | 国立大学医学组织 (国大医学组织) |
| Alexandra Hospital (AH) | 亚历山大医院 |
| NurseFirst | 护士问诊热线 |
| GPFirst | 家庭医生首选计划 |
| Virtual Care Centre | 线上护理关怀中心 |
| Urgent Care Centre | 紧急医疗中心 |
| Dr Keith Ho Head of AH Urgent Care Centre and Senior Consultant of Emergency Medicine | 何永浩 主任 紧急医疗中心兼 急诊科高级顾问医生 |
| Dr Darius Pan Associate Consultant Emergency Medicine | 潘绍庭 助理顾问医生 急诊科 |
About Alexandra Hospital
Alexandra Hospital will be redeveloped into an integrated health campus and progressively open from 2028. It responds to growing needs of an ageing Singapore and is pandemic and future-proof for the health and care needs of tomorrow. It is a well-integrated, well-zoned, green and sustainable campus with zero carbon and the most energy efficient, smart hospital and campus with its peaks in medical excellence. It also leads in phygital care, new roles of nurses and caregivers, a care model which is resource efficient.
Alexandra Hospital (AH) was taken over by the National University Health System (NUHS) on 1 June 2018. The 326-bedder hospital is the sandboxing site for staging innovative patient-centric solutions with a view to enabling best practices to be scoped, shared and scaled. These practices will span the entire care continuum and enable health in the safety and comfort of the home and community.
The new Alexandra Campus will have about 1300 beds and new facilities to care for a larger and growing population in Queenstown and beyond. AH will also play a key role in the Health District@Queenstown and Healthier SG. AH will also strengthen the link with the community, bridge the divide between health and social care and enable easier access to care, with strong focus on general medicine, geriatric medicine, palliative care, rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry and generalist surgery.
Alexandra Hospital and the Rail Corridor will be well-integrated in design and will promote active living and biodiversity. In the approved URA Masterplan, there will be seamless connectivity across AH and its surrounding communities, and AH will be a healthcare campus designed with and for the community - age-friendly community and green spaces will be strategically linked to the Rail Corridor. This will include cycling or walkthrough paths with heritage trail and memory markers of the hospital’s rich history.
To download the PDF version of the press release, click here
