ms salma khalik, the health correspondent of the straits times warns of "hospital bed crunch looms in next few years". the recent news that our government has pushed the opening of sengkang general hospital, 2 years ahead of schedule in 2018 may be testament to the fact that our nation faces a shortage of hospital beds, even though augmented by the opening of the new ng teng fong hospital with an extra 700 beds, scheduled to take in patients from the year 2014. current occupancy rates at public hospitals (with the exception of alexandra hospital) are hovering at or above 85% while the latest figures showed changi general hospital crossing the 95% mark on some days last maonth. in contrast, the biggest private hospital chain, parkway pantai group comprising of mounth elizabeth, gleneagles and parkway east have average occupancy rates of 65 to 70%, although there should be an extra ......