Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has said he is “dismayed” by the S$52,188 monthly rental bid for a new clinic in Tampines, warning that such high costs will likely be passed on to patients.
In a Facebook post on 4 June, Mr Ong said the rental rate — equating to over S$1,000 per square metre (sq m) — would “one way or another” result in more expensive healthcare services and undermine efforts by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to keep primary care affordable.
Source: Ong Ye Kung on Facebook
He added:
More importantly, higher rental bids do not necessarily translate to the best healthcare that the community needs.
The upcoming GP clinic will be located at unit #01-01 of Block 954C Tampines Street 96, within the new Build-To-Order (BTO) estate Tampines GreenGem.
Source: HDB
According to Mr Ong, the tender for the 50 sq m unit was launched in December 2024 and awarded in March 2025 — before MOH rolled out its revised tender framework.
To address such rental-related concerns, MOH and the Housing & Development Board (HDB) have since introduced the Price-Quality evaluation Model (PQM), which places greater emphasis on care quality.
Source: Ong Ye Kung on Facebook
Under this approach, 70% of the evaluation score is based on the quality of care proposed, while the remaining 30% is based on rental price.
“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,” Mr Ong wrote.
The first tender under the PQM was launched at Bartley Beacon, a new BTO estate in Bidadari, on 8 May.
A 100 sq m clinic space — twice the size of typical units, including the Tampines one — was allocated to support multi-disciplinary care and new care models, Mr Ong said.
The tender closed on 29 May with rental bid prices “significantly below” the Tampines site in per sq m terms.
Bartley Beacon. Source: HDB
MOH is currently assessing several “interesting proposals”.
Given the “encouraging response” to the Bartley Beacon site, the PQM approach will become the norm when tendering for HDB clinics, Mr Ong said, adding:
It will be a meaningful shift, both in improving primary care, and ensuring greater affordability.
Speaking to The Straits Times (ST), Andrew Chim — co-owner of I-Health Medical Holdings, the company that won the tender — said the Tampines unit had “the most attractive attributes” compared to other available sites.
He noted its proximity to 5,000 households, a new mixed-use development, and a nearby shopping mall.
The firm currently pays between S$7,000 and S$10,000 in rent for its three other heartland clinics in Singapore.
Source: I-Health Medical Clinic on Facebook
Despite the stark difference in rental, Mr Chim said consultation fees at the Tampines clinic would be “commensurate with other clinic chains”.
He added that the clinic is expected to become profitable within 1.5 to two years.
The high rental bid for the Tampines clinic first came to public attention after Dr Hisham Badaruddin, founder and CEO of Bartley Clinic, shared a screenshot of an HDB document on LinkedIn.
Source: HDB
He called the sky-high price “obscene”, particularly for a clinic in a heartland location.
According to the document, the winning bid was submitted by Dr Lum Sian Wei Shaun, the other co-owner of I-Health.
Dr Hisham’s post later made its way to Reddit, where netizens debated the feasibility of running a clinic amid rising rental costs in Singapore.
Also read: ‘Absolutely insane’: Netizens shocked by S$52K tendered rent for Tampines clinic
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Featured image adapted from Ong Ye Kung on Facebook and I-Health Medical Clinic on Facebook.