Residents of Windsor Convalescent Home, LC Nursing Home transferred out before shutdown

SINGAPORE – All residents of Windsor Convalescent Home and LC Nursing Home were transferred out by Aug 1, months ahead of the deadline set by the Ministry of Health (MOH) for their licences to be revoked over serious lapses.

To ensure that residents’ care needs, preferences and subsidy eligibility were met, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) coordinated the assessments, transfer planning, and matching to suitable homes.

There were 25 residents at Windsor Convalescent Home, a 45-bed nursing home in Pasir Panjang, and 78 residents at the 93-bed LC Nursing Home at Jalan Ulu Siglap.

In his reply to The Straits Times on Sept 4, an MOH spokesman said the ministry “oversaw the entire process and supported the expediting of X-rays and subsidy assessments for residents”.

It worked with AIC and Vanguard Healthcare, the appointed interim care operator, "to ensure safe care at the nursing homes and facilitate the residents’ transfers smoothly”.

“The wider nursing home sector rallied together to support the transfer of residents from both nursing homes,” the spokesman said.

“Receiving homes stepped forward to accept residents at short notice, and worked closely with AIC to facilitate smooth admissions and handovers to minimise stress and care disruption for both the residents and their families.”

The spokesman said the residents’ safety and well-being remained the top priority, with families kept informed and involved throughout the process.

Their cooperation was crucial to the timely transfers, as they worked closely with AIC to provide the necessary decisions and documentation and support the moves to alternative care settings.

The spokesman also confirmed that some of the residents were being taken care of in their own homes.

Both Windsor Convalescent Home and LC Nursing Home were found to have “serious and systemic lapses” in complying with Healthcare Services Act requirements in the latest audit in April 2026.

This came a year after Windsor Convalescent Home had addressed health and safety lapses identified in an earlier audit.

In April 2026, it was found to have again failed to meet requirements. These included conducting appropriate reviews of residents for issues such as falls, pressure injuries and weight loss; following up on or adhering to residents’ care plans; managing medication properly; and providing adequate basic care, including basic grooming.

Similarly, audits of LC Nursing Home found lapses including inadequate clinical and nursing care, failure to provide adequate basic care to residents, inadequate infection prevention and control practices, and failure to ensure a safe environment.

Windsor Convalescent Home will have its licence revoked on Oct 30, while LC Nursing Home’s licence will be revoked on Nov 23.

Vanguard Healthcare, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MOH Holdings, deployed additional nursing, care and operations staff on-site to ensure residents of the two homes continued to receive safe day-to-day care, and implement the necessary arrangements to maintain infection control and food safety practices.

The audits of the two homes were part of MOH’s audit of selected nursing facilities with identified areas for improvement. This was to gauge their compliance with infection and prevention control practices, and basic custodial and nursing care.

Speaking in Parliament on July 7, Senior Minister of State for Health Tan Kiat How said spot checks are necessary to ensure nursing homes take adequate corrective actions and sustain improvements.

Tan, who is also Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, said if the gaps are “serious, repeated, and there is a lack of serious effort to rectify them”, then MOH would escalate its measures, which include rescinding their licences.

As for Chia Yang Pong, who is listed as LC Nursing Home’s founder and chief executive on its website, the MOH spokesman said the ministry is investigating whether Chia had failed to disclose – at the time of applying for the nursing home’s licence – information about disciplinary actions taken against him by healthcare regulatory authorities.

“We are unable to comment further at this stage in the light of the ongoing investigations,” the spokesman said.

In November 2002, authorities inspecting Grace Polyclinic, a chain of seven clinics owned by Chia, found that sleeping pills (benzodiazepines) had been improperly prescribed to 80 patients.

He was struck off the medical register in 2004 and the eight doctors from the clinics were also punished for indiscriminately prescribing the addictive sleeping pills.

That same year, Chia was brought to a disciplinary committee by the Singapore Medical Council, where he faced 80 charges of professional misconduct and pleaded guilty.

Chia was fined $65,000 and struck off the medical register. He appealed against the decision and had his fine reduced to $10,000.