TWO multi-million dollar centres that specialise in day surgery have folded, following just over two years of mounting losses.
The closure of the two facilities, located in the Orchard Road area, has left patients and the doctors who rent out their operating rooms in the lurch.
The doctors claim the Singapore Day Surgery Centre at Camden Medical Centre and Day Surgery International at Paragon owed them hundreds of thousands of dollars in professional fees when they closed their doors on Jan 9.
The centres are in the process of being liquidated and owe about $2 million to creditors, said liquidation firm Infinity Consulting.
The closures are the latest blow to the health-care sector, which is traditionally one of Singapore's most resilient industries. Two months ago, a mid-sized medical group - Excellence Healthcare - closed its doors to the surprise of industry experts.
The Singapore Day Surgery Centre and Day Surgery International are owned by orthopaedic surgeon Kevin Yip and his wife, oncologist Joanna Lin.
The centres opened in November 2006, boasting a combined 14 operating theatres that could be rented by private doctors looking for a venue for plastic surgery, eye operations and dental procedures. They promised lower costs for operating rooms than hospitals.
But Dr Yip, who has a clinic at Gleneagles Medical Centre, said the company folded due to high operating costs, slow business and the relative novelty of facilities devoted to day surgery. Most of the procedures the centres offered are normally handled in hospitals and doctors were slow to refer patients.
'We have seen a gradual trend of more and more doctors using the facilities but we never reached the break-even point,' Dr Yip told The Straits Times.
He added that potential investors pulled out in October last year at the start of the economic crisis. Dr Yip and Dr Lin invested nearly $10 million in the centres.
Patients are owed a combined $80,000 from the facilities, which collected the money from Medisave but have yet to pass it back to the patients.
Dr Yip said those debts are the centres' first priority and will most probably be paid by Chinese New Year.
Meanwhile, some of the doctors who rented the operating rooms say they have not received their surgical fees, which are collected from patients by health-care centres and then passed on to doctors.
Ten specialists based at the Camden, Paragon and Mount Elizabeth medical centres told The Straits Times that they are among the many who have not received the fees.
Some claim they have been waiting since November, with the outstanding amounts ranging from $10,000 to $70,000 per surgeon.
'It's really unfortunate that this has happened, but given the current crisis, there is probably more to come,' said Dr Gerard Chuah, an eye surgeon at Camden, who has not received about $10,000 in professional fees.
Dr Yip said that despite crippling losses, he is 'exploring ways' to cover the professional fees.
The company is currently inviting other health-care companies to take over the day surgery centres, which have been used by 60 doctors.
'I still hope the day surgery facility will exist as it will help keep costs low for patients wanting to do day surgeries,' said a specialist at Paragon who asked to remain anonymous.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on January 19, 2009.
