General Hospital

The General Hospital, the oldest medical hospital in Singapore, has been located at Outram Road since 1882. The hospital started off in 1819 as a shed in the cantonment near Bras Basah Road and Stamford Road to provide medical attention to the early inhabitants of Singapore. Buildings to house the hospital came in the 1820s. Shoddy workmanship meant that, in 1845, the hospital had to be rebuilt and re-erected on Pearl’s Hill. In 1855, Pearl’s Hill had to be fortified, and the hospital moved to Kandang Kerbau in 1860.The hospital, though well-built, occupied a low-lying plot which made it susceptible to cholera outbreaks. This meant another move, to a larger site on breezy high ground at the Sepoy Lines along Outram Road where the hospital is still located today. The building here was opened on 1 August 1882.