IN A first for any specialist centre here, the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) will switch clusters to join SingHealth, a move that doctors say is part of a strategy to build a regional medical powerhouse in Outram.
The institute, now located at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Novena, treats and researches diseases affecting the brain, spine, nerve and muscle.
It is leaving the fold of its parent National Healthcare Group (NHG) next month, after both public health-care clusters and the Health Ministry agreed to the shift earlier this month.
This has cleared the way for it to become part of SingHealth's burgeoning Outram campus, which has as its nerve centre the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), as well as the national eye, heart and cancer centres.
Commenting on the move, Professor Soo Khee Chee, chairman of the current planning committee for a new graduate medical school in Outram, said that NNI completed the suite of specialist institutes there.
'The pieces are falling into place for the hub. I wouldn't say that it's in labour yet, but the pregnancy is quite advanced.'
While not confirming NNI's physical move to Outram, a SingHealth spokesman said the change in cluster would allow it to be part of any future redevelopment there.
She added that patients would not be affected because its specialists would continue to serve all public hospitals.
NNI's patients suffer from stroke, epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson's disease and brain tumours, among other conditions.
It is led by Dr Lee Wei Ling, has about 300 doctors, researchers and administration staff, and about 8,000 inpatients a year.
The Health Ministry said that NNI's transfer to SingHealth, which has a larger volume of patients with complex medical problems, would help enhance clinical neuroscience provision here.
And the NHG stressed that the move had patients' interests in mind. 'One cluster's gain is not another cluster's loss,' said a spokesman.
The Outram hub aims to be a big draw for doctors, researchers and patients, both foreign and local.
Its graduate medical school - in collaboration with top United States institute Duke University - will take in about 50 students a year. There could also be training for nurses and other professionals such as physiotherapists.
Apart from enhancing medical services for Singaporeans, foreigners will also flock to where top-notch research goes hand in hand with treatment, added Prof Soo, who is also director of the National Cancer Centre and head of SGH's surgery department.
'People pay a premium to go where they can receive cutting-edge medicine in an academic centre, not just for plush carpets.
'And this will be the largest aggregation of specialists and facilities in the region.'
What is needed to complete the picture is a private medical centre to cater to foreign patients, and The Straits Times understands that at least one private health-care group here is discussing this.
Facing stiff competition from countries such as Thailand, Singapore is angling for a larger share of the regional pie, easily worth tens of billions of dollars a year.
In fact, the Singapore National Eye Centre is being used as a test case to see if a public facility can attract foreign patients while also taking care of Singaporeans, said Acting Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan last week.
To ensure that treating more foreign patients does not mean higher health-care costs for Singaporeans, he said it would be matched by a corresponding increase in doctors and other health-care workers through various means, including increased medical intake and fast-track entry for foreign-trained specialists.