SINGAPORE - Operating as Singapore’s only not-for-profit private acute hospital, Mount Alvernia Hospital has had to find a balance between moderating costs for patients and shelling out for operational expenses such as broadening its range of services, said the hospital’s chief executive James Lam.

This includes introducing the Icon Cancer Centre and the St Anne Mother and Child Centre for maternity and paediatric care, both of which were launched in 2023.

The hospital tries to use its surplus to address what it sees as unaddressed gaps in healthcare, Dr Lam said.

In line with this, Mount Alvernia is exploring the possibility of offering inpatient and outpatient mental wellness services, he said.

He was speaking to The Straits Times earlier in March after the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced in January that it hoped to introduce a new not-for-profit private acute hospital model, inviting private healthcare operators here to participate in a consultation for such a model.

MOH cited a need to increase acute hospital bed capacity in both the public and private sector, amid rising demand for healthcare services due to Singapore’s ageing population.

Dr Lam told ST at the time that Mount Alvernia was registering for the consultation as it was “interested to know more details”.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told Parliament in February that public hospitals are now handling about 90 per cent of hospital patients here, adding “considerable load” to the public healthcare system.

He called for a “variegated system”, where those who are well-insured and have less need for subsidies can opt for lower-cost private hospital care.

Noting that Mount Alvernia was caught by surprise by the initial announcement, Dr Lam said during the interview with ST that while another not-for-profit private acute hospital would likely be a competitor, such a facility could also help contain rising healthcare costs for patients here.

Between the costs of obtaining the land and building a hospital, and the need to maximise profits and returns to shareholders, healthcare in private hospitals can be costly for patients, he said.

Hence, the authorities may have wanted to explore a different model to help moderate such costs, he added.

The not-for-profit ethos is deeply entrenched in Mount Alvernia’s DNA, said Dr Lam.

He pointed to the hospital’s founding in 1961 by Catholic nuns from the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood, who saw taking care of the healthcare needs of the community here as their calling and made up the hospital’s first staff.

“We’re not trying to maximise profits, so we are under constant pressure not to charge (patients) prices that are too expensive,” said Dr Lam, who previously served as the CEO of Thomson Medical Group.

According to the MOH website, the typical bill for cataract surgery at Mount Alvernia ranges between $5,856 and $7,490.

In comparison, the same procedure at Mount Elizabeth, another private hospital, would cost between $8,044 and $10,785.

Mr Ong said in February that in the new not-for-profit private acute hospital model, restrictions will be imposed on the size of patients’ bills.

Dr Lam noted that Mount Alvernia is also competing with other private hospitals – which he described as “friendly competitors” – for manpower and resources.

While Mount Alvernia has thus far managed to strike a balance between revenue and expenditure, the hospital is under increasing pressure as healthcare costs increase, he said.

Describing the hospital as a “strange creature”, Dr Lam said that while as a not-for-profit, Mount Alvernia is not distracted by having to maximise returns to shareholders, it must also make money as it is not an Institution of a Public Character and cannot raise funds, he added.

Pointing to the efforts of the hospital’s management and board of directors in supporting the hospital’s plans, he said: “I think we have been very, very blessed that despite this model, we have been able to develop so much over the last 63 years.”

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that Mount Alvernia Hospital is not a charity. Mount Alvernia Hospital has since clarified that it is not an Institution of a Public Character. We are sorry for the error.