SINGAPORE - After standing for around a century, all but one of Tan Tock Seng Hospital's (TTSH) nine remaining pavilion wards will be demolished, with the retained ward to serve as a heritage marker.

The eight wards - located at the end of Jalan Tan Tock Seng, near Bassein Road - will make way for what a construction notice describes as a "new four-storey interim healthcare facility".

Established in 1844, TTSH is the country's second-oldest hospital, after Singapore General Hospital, which dates back to 1821.

Pavilion wards were built between 1907 and 1931 at TTSH's current Balestier Hill location, which the hospital moved to in 1909 from Serangoon Road.

The wards were among the hospital's main buildings in 1909, and housed tuberculosis and dysentery patients.

The single-storey wards are characterised by a central aisle that facilitated patient supervision, high ceilings, as well as good lighting and ventilation that aided patient recovery and reduced the odds of them developing infections.

They were also commonly referred to as Nightingale wards - named after Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing who was credited with revolutionising ward design in the 1800s by letting in natural air and light.

The wards were phased out from 1999 after TTSH's current main building was opened, and some were later used by charity healthcare institution Ren Ci until 2017 as a nursing home.

Other pavilion wards that were part of the hospital - some near Akyab Road and four blocks that were part of this row in Jalan Tan Tock Seng - have been demolished, replaced by the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and an integrated care hub.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the retained ward block "will be refurbished and integrated with the future development of the site to better serve patients".

However, heritage advocates told ST they hope the retained block will be conserved, and not just retained.

Singapore Heritage Society president Fauzy Ismail said the block will be vulnerable to future redevelopment pressures without conservation status.

Heritage blogger and author Jerome Lim added that the conservation status also potentially affects how much of its character and architectural features are retained.

Nurse adviser K. Patmawali, who has been with TTSH for close to five decades, said the block that will be kept shows younger generations of healthcare workers how ward conditions have improved over the years.

"Hopefully (they will) grow an appreciation for the convenience and comfort of their working environment today," said Madam Patmawali, 67.

"It also brings back fond memories and is nostalgic for nurses like myself and my peers who worked there," she added.

She recalls hospital amenities and facilities - including the operating theatres - being difficult to reach when the hospital was low-rise and buildings were spread out.

On the pavilion wards, she said: "I will never forget the stench that came from the bedpans and urinals that were parked in the corridor near the beds, to be collected and sent to the toilet for washing."

URA and MOH noted that three other old ward blocks were conserved in 2012 as part of the Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital in Serangoon Road - TTSH's site before its move to Balestier Hill.

Built in the 1850s, the three single-storey buildings house a traditional Chinese medicine centre, a heritage gallery and meeting rooms.

Mr Fauzy and Mr Lim suggested that the retained ward block could be used for public education, with Mr Fauzy adding that it could be an extension to the existing TTSH Heritage Museum, and incorporate technologies such as virtual and augmented reality that help visitors interpret the hospital's history.

Both said more can be done to make the retention meaningful.

Mr Lim noted that not much of the site's history can be represented by one block, in isolation, while Mr Fauzy said retention is not just about physical preservation, but about positioning it within the broader narrative of Singapore's medical history and heritage.

To this end, URA and MOH said some buildings in Singapore General Hospital and Alexandra Hospital have already been conserved, and "contribute to our medical history and represent the evolution of healthcare in Singapore".

The authorities said redeveloping the eight pavilion wards will help facilitate development plans within HealthCity Novena, so that the campus can meet growing healthcare needs in the central region.

The 17ha HealthCity Novena comprises various institutions such as TTSH, Ren Ci Hospital and the National Neuroscience Institute.

It was launched in August 2013 and is being developed in phases, with Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine's Clinical Sciences Building and the NCID among the buildings completed in the first phase.

The agencies said that heritage considerations are part of the plans for HealthCity Novena, citing buildings that have conservation status such as the former Nurses' Quarters in Mandalay Road, as well as two old bungalows in Moulmein Road that are now the National Tuberculosis Care Centre and Tuberculosis Contact Clinic.

URA also announced on June 25 that it has developed a thematic framework that will improve the way it assesses buildings' significance, by considering how they contributed to Singapore's history under at least one of four themes - economy, housing, social and defence.

Mr Fauzy said he hopes heritage stakeholders, local residents and medical history enthusiasts will be engaged on the future of the retained pavilion ward block.

He also noted that a member of the public had flagged the impending redevelopment of the pavilion wards to the heritage society.

"We hope more members of the public will come forward to raise their concerns if they see buildings and sites of heritage and historic significance that may be at risk of disappearing," Mr Fauzy said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.