Mount Elizabeth Hospital, one of the four hospitals under IHH Healthcare Singapore, is set to undergo $350m upgrade work, reported The Straits Times citing IHH Healthcare Singapore.

Currently, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, which was opened in Orchard in 1979, features 345 beds, including 112 in single rooms.

As part of the retrofitting project named “Renaissance”, about 56 single rooms are planned to be added at the healthcare facility and remove all two-bedded rooms. This will result in an overall capacity of 246 beds.

The work is expected to meet the surging local and international demand for more single rooms.

Partly funded by Parkway Life Reit, the phased Renaissance project is planned to complete in three years.

Mount Elizabeth Hospital CEO Yong Yih Ming was quoted by the news agency as saying: “There is very little need for two- or four-bedders over time because some of these (rooms) can be provided at government hospitals. So we are also evolving… to be able to provide the privacy and the kind of experience that our patients really want.”

The Renaissance project will also involve uplifting the public-facing area of the hospital, adding new drop-off point and lobby, upgrades to equipment and technology as well as significant infrastructure improvements to the mechanical, electrical and fire protection systems.

Ming added: “More importantly, the hospital’s clinical assets and backroom will be significantly redesigned around the needs of our patients and staff while ensuring better connectivity, safety and privacy.

“Expansions to our emergency department and many of our inpatient and outpatient treatment centres, as well as improvements to our ward configurations, will be carried out for better workflow, comfort and overall patient experience.”