SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Housing & Development Board (HDB) have awarded the first tender under a new approach for general practitioner (GP) clinics at a new public housing project in Bidadari estate.
Under the pilot Price Quality Method (PQM), quality of care accounts for 70 per cent of the tender evaluation, while price plays a factor in the remaining 30 per cent.
The tender, which opened on May 8 and closed on May 29, was awarded to BridgePoint Health, said MOH and HDB in a joint press release on Friday (Aug 1).
“The awarded monthly rent is S$18,000 (US$13,900) for the clinic space of about 100 sq m, which is twice the size of a typical clinic,” they said.
Eighteen bids were received for the tender at Bartley Beacon, a Build-To-Order (BTO) project which was completed in July.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung spoke about the new tender approach in June when he expressed dismay at a healthcare company’s S$52,188 monthly rental bid for a clinic in a HDB estate in Tampines.
Mr Ong said in a Facebook post then that higher rental bids do not necessarily translate to the best healthcare that the community needs.
“Through this Price-Quality evaluation Model (PQM), we can shift the competitive focus away from rental rates, to better care models, including preventive care, chronic disease management and mental health,” he said.
The awarded monthly rent for the tender at Bartley Beacon works out to S$180 per sq m.
This is lower than the average awarded bid of S$382 per sq m for GP clinic tenders in new housing projects awarded from 2022 to 2024, said MOH and HDB.
“In comparison, the unusually high tendered rent for the recent clinic in Tampines GreenGem was about S$1,000 per sq m,” they added.