Singapore General Hospital facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Singapore General Hospital |
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| SingHealth | |
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Singapore General Hospital's Block 4 in 2005
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| Geography | |
| Location | Bukit Merah, Central Region, Singapore |
| Coordinates | 1°16′43.2″N 103°50′03.7″E / 1.278667°N 103.834361°E |
| Organisation | |
| Funding | Public hospital |
| Hospital type | Teaching |
| Affiliated university | Duke–NUS Medical School, National University of Singapore (NUS) |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes Accident & Emergency |
| Beds | 2,000 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1821 |
Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is a very important hospital in Singapore. It is a place where doctors learn and where people go for serious health problems. SGH is located near the Bukit Merah and Chinatown areas.
Close by, you can find the Outram Community Hospital (OCH). This hospital helps patients who have just left SGH, offering them more care and rehabilitation. There is also the Outram Polyclinic for people who need to see a doctor but do not need to stay overnight. All these places are run by SingHealth, which is part of Singapore's Ministry of Health.
SGH is the largest and oldest hospital in Singapore. It is like the country's main hospital. Its first building was started in 1821. It has grown and been updated many times since then.
SGH is the main hospital for SingHealth, which is Singapore's biggest group of public hospitals. It is also the main teaching hospital for the Duke–NUS Medical School, which works with the National University of Singapore. The SGH campus has four special medical centers. These are the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), and the National Dental Centre Singapore (NDCS). A fifth center, the Elective Care Centre Singapore (ECC), was completed in 2025.
SGH is known as one of the best hospitals in the world. It has often been ranked in the top 10 by Newsweek magazine. In 2019, it reached its highest rank at 3rd place. It is the top-ranked hospital in Asia. Many patients from other countries come here for treatment. SGH performs many organ transplants, helping people get new chances at life.
Contents
Hospital History
How SGH Started
The Singapore General Hospital began in 1821. The very first hospital was for British soldiers near the Singapore River. It moved a few times before settling at Outram Road in 1882.
The modern SGH started on March 29, 1926. It opened with 800 beds in new buildings called Bowyer, Stanley, and Norris Blocks. Today, only the Bowyer Block is left. It has a special clock tower. The Bowyer Block is now home to the SGH Museum.
In 1981, the hospital was rebuilt. Its current complex has eight blocks. These blocks hold patient wards, clinics, support services, research labs, and a special medical institute for doctors learning more.
On April 1, 1989, the hospital changed how it was run. This was to make it more modern and meet new patient needs. Even though it changed, SGH is still fully owned by the government. It is a not-for-profit hospital. This means it focuses on helping people, not making money. More than 60% of its beds are for patients who pay less. This helps everyone get good, affordable healthcare.
SGH in the 21st Century
On March 31, 2000, the Ministry of Health made big changes to public healthcare. Since then, Singapore General Hospital has been managed by Singapore Health Services or SingHealth.
In 2018, SGH announced plans to make its accident and emergency (A&E) department bigger. A new 12-story building was constructed. It is four times larger than the old A&E. This new building connects to the special medical centers and the Outram Community Hospital. It began operations in 2023.
The SGH Museum
The Singapore General Hospital Museum is a place filled with old items and records. Visitors can learn about the long and interesting history of SGH here. It also shows how medical specialties and medical education grew in Singapore. The museum uses videos and other multimedia to make learning fun.
The SGH Museum was officially opened by President SR Nathan on May 20, 2005. The museum tells the hospital's story through different themes. Visitors learn about important events and how they affected people and the community.
Special Medical Centers
Singapore National Eye Centre
The Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) is a special place for eye care. It is the biggest eye specialist center in Singapore. It started in 1990 to provide special eye services, focusing on research and teaching. SNEC performs about 14,000 major eye surgeries and 13,000 laser procedures each year. SNEC also does research to find causes and treatments for eye problems like myopia (nearsightedness) and glaucoma.
SNEC has 50 rooms for check-ups, 9 operating rooms, research areas, offices, and a library. These are in two connected buildings.
National Cancer Centre Singapore
The National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) is Singapore's main center for finding, researching, and treating cancer. It has the most cancer doctors in Singapore. It started in 1993 as part of Singapore General Hospital. Later, it became its own institution under SingHealth.
The center's first director was Professor Soo Khee Chee. NCCS offers many medical, educational, and research activities in one place. It uses a team approach to diagnose and treat cancer. It is the only center in Southeast Asia that offers all kinds of cancer sub-specialties.
NCCS also teaches doctors, nurses, and researchers about cancer. It offers special training for them.
On June 2, 2017, construction began for a new building at NCCS. This building has more facilities to help more patients get cancer treatment. It also has a new Proton Therapy Centre, which uses proton therapy to treat cancer. This center began operations in 2022. It is the first and only hospital in the region with such facilities.
National Heart Centre Singapore
The National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) is a special medical center for cardiovascular diseases (heart and blood vessel problems). It is also a place where other hospitals send patients for advanced heart care. It started in 1994 as the Singapore Heart Centre within Singapore General Hospital. It took over the hospital's heart services and set up a heart lab in 1995. It was renamed in 1998. In 2014, NHCS moved to a new building at 5 Hospital Drive. This new building has clinics, testing areas, operating rooms, and a special lab for heart procedures.
NHCS has 186 beds and admits over 9,000 patients each year. It offers many treatments for heart problems, from preventing them to helping patients recover.
National Dental Centre Singapore
The National Dental Centre Singapore (NDCS) is a place in Singapore for special dental care. It started on March 1, 1997. It has many dental specialists in one place. Its teams of specialists see over 700 patients every day. These include people who walk in and those sent by other doctors. The center has 92 dental chairs and a day surgery room.
The center has three main specialist departments: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Orthodontics (braces), and Restorative Dentistry (fixing teeth). These departments treat many different mouth conditions. The Restorative Dentistry department also has smaller units for Endodontics (root canals), Paediatric Dentistry (kids' teeth), Periodontics (gum disease), and Prosthodontics (false teeth). NDCS also offers special team services for jaw surgery, facial rehabilitation, and facial pain.
The center is active in research and training, especially for dentists. NDCS has been managed by Singapore Health Services Pte Ltd since 2002.
In 2019, the National University Centre for Oral Health, Singapore (NUCOHS) opened. It is another national facility in Singapore that offers special dental services. While it is not part of SGH or SingHealth, it helps meet the growing need for public dental services. A new and larger National Dental Centre Singapore has more than doubled its capacity by 2025. This includes expanding the Geriatric Special Care Dentistry Clinic, which helps older people in Singapore with their dental needs.
Elective Care Centre
The Elective Care Centre (ECC) is a new facility that will focus on surgeries that are not emergencies. This helps free up resources at the main hospital. It was completed in 2025 and will begin operations in 2026.
