Health Minister Gan Kim Yong explained in parliament that the B2 and C class wards in hospitals were designed to be naturally ventilated so that they could cut costs.
He said that the government would not be looking at installing aircon in all these wards.
Mr Gan was responding to a question from NMP K Karthikeyan who had asked whether MOH would provide aircon for these wards especially given the fact that Singapore suffers from yearly haze and this is not conducive to swift recovery in patients.
Minister Gan had indicated that the government would not do so but he also said that there are already measures in place to mitigate problems during bad haze situations.
“For example, when the haze intensified last year, MOH provided funding to healthcare institutions to purchase air purifiers and portable air coolers for use in naturally ventilated wards. This equipment can be used during a sustained severe haze, should it occur again," he said.
"In addition to this, we are also looking at incorporating additional filter systems in the naturally ventilated patient wards for new healthcare facilities."