ELEVEN days after Raechelle Mancienne was born in the Seychelles, she was flown to Singapore and admitted to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).
The infant had a serious birth defect - her gullet led to her lungs, not her stomach - and she needed surgery urgently.
'Back home, everybody has the notion that, for health, Singapore is the best place,' said her father, businessman Daniel Mancienne, 31.
Since arriving on Jan 17, the baby has had two operations and is doing well. She will be discharged from hospital soon and will need follow-up care.
Little Raechelle was not the only one in the family to see Singapore doctors.
Her brother Mishael, eight, and cousin Nelson, seven, are being treated for a skin disease. Her aunt, Mr Mancienne's sister Suzanne, 42, arrived this month for a hysterectomy. And the baby's grandmother took the opportunity while visiting to have a thorough health screening and some minor treatments.
The medical bills for this family from the Indian Ocean archipelago are close to $100,000. But Mr Mancienne says it is money well spent, for the care received.
They are among a rising number of foreigners coming to Singapore for medical treatment, thanks to stepped-up efforts by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and hospitals here.
The 374,000 who came last year were a 17 per cent increase over the 320,000 in 2004, said Dr Jason Yap, STB's director of health-care services.
Health Ministry figures show that more than half the patients who come here for major medical treatments are from Indonesia.
Malaysia, the United States, Britain and Japan are also important sources of foreign patients.
For the first time last year, Bangladesh and Myanmar made it to the top 10 list of foreign patients.
The ministry expects more to arrive and sees the total reaching one million a year by 2012.
The majority who came sought check-ups and minor treatments. But close to 30,000 needed major treatments, for cancer or heart problems, for example.
Women's gynaecological problems and orthopaedic surgery also ranked among the top five major treatments sought here, said the ministry.
Four in five of all foreigners sought treatment at private clinics and hospitals, but the number going to public hospitals is also up.
While foreigners generally make up only 5 per cent of all patients at public hospitals, they are a lifeline for private hospitals.
The Parkway Group, which runs the Mount Elizabeth and Gleneagles Hospitals, says 40 per cent of its revenue comes from foreign patients.
The group had 17,000 foreigners warded last year, a 50 per cent increase on 2002. Another 140,000 were treated as outpatients.
But none of it came without effort. Parkway has marketing offices in 15 countries, including China, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, Russia and Canada, as well as Indonesia and Malaysia.
Raffles Hospital is newer at the game, but learning fast. In 2000, one in five patients was a foreigner. Last year, it was one in three.
The hospital is generous with the personal touches for this group, serving muffins to British patients for afternoon tea, matching Muslim women patients with women doctors, and providing Arab patients with Arabic newspapers, prayer mats and preferred toilet facilities.
Most hospitals here now have teams dedicated to helping foreigners.
They meet and greet, and arrange for transportation, accommodation and sight-seeing.
And if a patient misses food from home, the staff will try to find it.
The rise in numbers reflects the work put in by the STB. Last year, it held 14 medical roadshows in seven countries, taking private and public hospital representatives along.
The hospitals also run their own promotions. The SingHealth cluster, which includes Singapore General Hospital and KKH, had a medical seminar late last year in the Indonesian province of Sulawesi, for both doctors and potential patients.
Countries see foreign patients as a lucrative group of niche travellers. They are sought after partly because they rarely come alone. Patients are usually accompanied by family or friends, who take the opportunity to have a holiday too.
That means spin-off earnings for tourism, aside from what the health-care industry earns.
Both Thailand and Malaysia are actively competing for this group. So are India, Taiwan and the Philippines.
The medical tourists are a mixed bunch: there are those seeking essential medical treatment not available in their own country; those who just want quality treatment; 'premium-care' seekers who want the best, and patients seeking the treatment they need at a price they can afford.
Citizens of the United Arab Emirates are an unusual group because they can seek treatment at home or abroad, and their government pays.
This was how eight-year-old Farid found himself at Gleneagles Hospital. He may stay for a year while he undergoes treatment to lengthen his right leg.
His parents are here with him. His father, Dr Mohamed Farid Moustafa, 46, is a cardiologist.
The bill will be enormous, but at home it is a matter of convincing the body of doctors who recommend overseas treatment that the medical care in Singapore is both good and affordable.
If the number arriving is any indication, the panel is convinced on both counts. The STB's Dr Yap cites Johns Hopkins Singapore International Medical Centre, which attracts 85 per cent of UAE cancer patients sent overseas for treatment.
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan sees the rising numbers as an endorsement of Singapore's high medical standards.
'No clever or slick wooing of foreign patients will work if the services are not up to international standards and competitively priced,' he told The Straits Times.
If more come, it is proof that Singapore medical care is up to international standards and affordable, he said.
Foreign patients are good for the health-care system: they make it possible to invest in expensive equipment as the cost is shared by more people using it.
'More importantly, our doctors have more opportunity to hone their skills,' said Mr Khaw. 'Which surgeon would you go to: one who handles 100 cases a month, or one who handles 100 cases a year?'