Upgraded Pasir Ris Polyclinic offers more services
Pasir Ris residents have access to more healthcare services with the opening of the redeveloped Pasir Ris Polyclinic on Oct 7.
Located within the new Pasir Ris Mall, the facility is four times bigger than before and has added dental and physiotherapy services. By the second half of 2025, it will also introduce services catering to patients with dementia and mental health issues.
As part of national preventive health initiative Healthier SG, the multidisciplinary care teams at Pasir Ris Polyclinic will be expanded, offering preventive care options such as breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening, as well as smoking cessation programmes.
Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who attended the opening of the redeveloped facility, said: “Our healthcare needs have evolved with the changing profile of our residents and the size of our town.”
The new polyclinic will be able to handle almost 1,000 patients per day in its first year, said its clinic director, Dr Koh Kim Hwee.
In comparison, Tampines North Polyclinic, which opened in 2023, was able to see about 500 patients per day in its first year.
The planning and development of the new facility took about five years, Dr Koh said, adding that it has a staff strength of about 130, an increase of about 10 per cent to 20 per cent from its previous headcount.
SM Teo, who is also MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, added that the new location of the polyclinic – next to Pasir Ris MRT station on the East-West Line and Pasir Ris bus interchange – places it “at the heart of Pasir Ris”.
It will also be connected to the upcoming Pasir Ris station on the future Cross Island Line.
The previous facility, which opened in 2002, occupied three floors of the Pasir Ris East Community Building in Pasir Ris Drive 4.
Pasir Ris resident Wendy Wong, 72, said that while the new polyclinic is located farther from her flat, it is just a 10-minute bus ride away, and she would be able to shop at the supermarket when she goes to see a doctor.
“The new facilities really enhance the polyclinic,” said Ms Wong, an asthma patient who has been visiting Pasir Ris Polyclinic for 15 years.
Drawing on lessons from Covid-19, the polyclinic also features a dedicated module that can be isolated from the rest of the facility and converted into a pandemic unit if necessary.
By mid-2025, it will feature a 24-hour self-help lobby, allowing patients to collect their medications at their own convenience.
The polyclinic will also serve as an Academic Family Medicine Centre, dedicated to training doctors under the family medicine residency programme.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who attended the polyclinic’s opening on Oct 7, noted that Singapore’s polyclinics managed almost seven million outpatient visits a year, including 40 per cent of the country’s chronic care patient load. “Primary care accounts for about 15 to 20 per cent of total healthcare spending,” he said.
Mr Ong added that the authorities would focus on a few areas of primary care over the coming years, including increasing the number of polyclinics from 26 currently to 32 by 2030, as well as upgrading private family doctor clinics, which currently number about 1,600.
“We are looking into ways to enhance the professional competencies of private family doctors, improve their premises to encourage multidisciplinary practice, and strengthen their partnerships with community organisations and other healthcare providers,” he said.
Pasir Ris Polyclinic also features a series of paintings by Visual Arts Hubs, a rehabilitation workshop under the auspices of the Singapore Prison Service.
“Robust partnerships” with specialists, social service agencies and community organisations help address the diverse needs of patients, said Dr Koh, pointing to initiatives on supporting underprivileged residents in partnership with the Ministry of Social and Family Development, among others.
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