Faced with an ageing population, Singapore’s elderly population is expected to increase by more than 3 times from the present level to more than 1 million persons by 2030, accounting for more than a quarter of the Singapore population.

Geriatric Medicine is the specialty dedicated to the medicine of old age. Recognising that older patients tend to have more than one medical, functional or care problem, CGH aims to provide comprehensive management as far as possible.

Instead of having our patient visit 3 or 4 different specialists (with different drugs, different appointments etc), the geriatricians are trained to handle a wide variety of conditions. They coordinate the care and needs of both the older person and the family, and advise on how community support can be utilised to the fullest advantage. Independence among our older patients is encouraged so that they are able to do things for themselves to enhance their quality of life.

The Geriatric Day Hospital (GDH) is a day facility for the assessment and rehabilitation of older patients. Patients usually benefit from attending for part of a day (returning home in the evening) up to several times a week, in order to achieve goals which are agreed with a multi-disciplinary team of doctors, nurses, therapists and social work coordinators if required.

Patients are referred to attend the GDH programme either following a period of hospitalisation, or after assessment by geriatricians at the specialist clinics. This period which lasts several weeks aims for stabilisation of medical, nursing needs and for functional improvement as a result of the intensive interventions. After this period, patients may be referred for maintenance rehabilitation at one of the neighbourhood day rehabilitation centres in the community. Attendance at GDH is deductible by Medisave.

The Geriatric Centre is situated on Level 2, Clinics Block, beside the Specialist Dental Clinic. For enquiries and appointments, please call CGH Appointment Centre at Tel: 6850 3333.