Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Singapore, and Chinese Academy of Medical Science Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), People's Republic of China, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to deepen collaborations in clinical care, medical education and research, with a shared focus on advancing the needs of rapidly ageing populations.
The MOU establishes a framework for cooperation across key priority areas including healthy ageing, palliative care, and rehabilitation services. Through this partnership, both hospitals will facilitate knowledge exchange, share best practices and explore joint initiatives that promote disease prevention, functional independence and person-centred care for older adults.
Advancing Care Through Collaboration
Through this MOU, TTSH and PUMCH will collaborate across three interconnected domains.
- In the area of clinical care and integrated models, both hospitals will share insights on hospital-to-community care pathways which prioritise independence and coordinated support for older adults. Areas of joint focus include frailty management, sarcopenia, advanced dementia, and the development of culturally adapted palliative care models that reflect Asian perspectives on ageing, caregiving, and end of life. This work started since January 2026, with TTSH palliative care clinicians sharing their expertise with their counterparts in Beijing, marking an early and tangible step in building a sustained clinical exchange between both institutions.
- On medical education and workforce development, the MOU will support structured clinical and professional exchanges - including fellowships, observerships and joint case discussions - enabling healthcare teams from both institutions to learn from each other's care models and clinical experiences. As a first step under this partnership, TTSH and PUMCH will co-host an inaugural geriatric symposium on 21 August 2026, bringing together clinicians from Beijing to exchange knowledge on integrated care models and best practices in managing the needs of older adults. TTSH and PUMCH will also explore joint curriculum development and continuing medical education, as well as exchanges in nursing practice, community nursing, home-based care and specialist aged-care nursing.
- In research, both institutions will pursue collaborative studies and co-publications across shared priority areas. Potential topics include sarcopenia models and diagnostics, frailty intervention outcomes, advanced dementia care, end-of-life ethics, and psychosocial support for patients with life-limiting conditions. A key long-term objective is to translate findings into evidence-based clinical practice and develop shared guidelines that improve patient outcomes across both healthcare systems.
Complementary Strengths for an Ageing World
As leading medical institutions in their respective countries, TTSH and PUMCH bring complementary strengths to this collaboration. Both hospitals serve elderly and complex patient populations and are deeply committed to advancing integrated health care services that address the healthcare challenges of ageing populations.
As the flagship hospital of NHG Health, TTSH is recognised as the pioneering hospital and leader in geriatric, rehabilitation and palliative care medicine in Singapore. TTSH has also been recognised as an Age-Friendly Health System by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement – an international recognition for delivering evidence based, person-centred care for older adults – and has pioneered innovative models that help older adults remain healthier and more independent in the community. These include EDIFY (Emergency Interventions for the Frail Elderly), a multidisciplinary frailty intervention programme supporting pre-frail and moderately frail older persons, and TTSH@Home, which delivers inpatient-level care in patients' homes through clinical support and remote monitoring. Both programmes are part of integrated hospital-to-community care pathways that enable older patients to recover in familiar surroundings.
Founded in 1921, PUMCH is a Class A tertiary comprehensive hospital designated by the National Health Commission as one of China’s national guiding centres for the diagnosis and treatment of complex and severe disorders. Committed to delivering state-of-the-art clinical care, innovative scientific research and rigorous medical education, PUMCH is well recognised nationally for its reputable doctors, academic research, clinical excellence and innovative healthcare solutions. Over the years, PUMCH has remained at the forefront of healthcare, bringing together cutting-edge expertise and solutions from across China and internationally. It has also developed innovative capabilities in digital health and artificial intelligence, including AI-enabled diagnostic tools and a smart triage system that improves patient flow. Its telemedicine centre extends the hospital’s clinical expertise to hospitals across China.
PUMCH brings extensive expertise in comprehensive geriatric assessment, sarcopenia management and the integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine with Western medicine. PUMCH has developed the "X-age" Frailty-Sarcopenia Digital Assessment and Intervention System, which integrates digital diagnostic devices, a data management platform, intelligent prescription models, and patient self-management support tools. It provides full-cycle, closed-loop management of sarcopenia in older adults, covering “rapid screening – precise assessment and diagnosis – continuous multidimensional intervention – automated follow-up.” PUMCH has established a comprehensive geriatric assessment and management system, supported by a multidisciplinary team (MDT) framework. It works closely with leading international institutions and eldercare institutions in China and abroad. Through nationwide remote teaching ward rounds, sustained media outreach, international forums held for 16 consecutive years, participation in the development of professional standards, and multi-level education and training, the hospital has substantially advanced the wider adoption and development of geriatric medicine.
TTSH’s leadership in palliative care has also laid the groundwork for the clinical partnership that underpins this MOU. Since 2012, PUMCH has started palliative care practice within the hospital and gradually expanded this work into medical education and research, becoming a pioneer and national leader in the development of palliative medicine in mainland China. Since the two institutions established academic ties during an Asia-Pacific palliative care exchange in 2017, their collaboration has continued to deepen. In 2023, this partnership’s achievement was formally reaffirmed when PUMCH conferred an Honorary Professorship on Dr Neo Han Yee, Head of Department of Palliative Medicine of TTSH.
Clinical observerships between the two institutions have since been established, with four PUMCH doctors and nurses having completed immersive programmes at TTSH to-date, and a PUMCH clinical fellow expected to join TTSH in 2027. Having developed its palliative care programme from the ground up, PUMCH rapidly emerged as a national leader in the development of the discipline. Its experience in interdisciplinary collaboration across palliative care, ethics and narrative medicine has provided useful insights for TTSH’s palliative care team and helped expand cooperation in ethics, narrative medicine, nursing and other areas.
The collaboration has since deepened through interdisciplinary events, including a moot court on end-of-life issues in May 2026 and an expert ethico-legal symposium in June 2026, reflecting a shared commitment to advancing not just clinical skills, but the ethical and humanistic dimensions of palliative care.
The strengths of both hospitals create opportunities to advance new models of care that improve health outcomes and quality of life for older adults.
"Singapore and China may differ in scale, but we are confronting the same reality: people are living longer, healthcare needs are becoming more complex, and no health system can meet these challenges alone. This partnership with PUMCH brings together two institutions with complementary strengths to learn faster, innovate together and develop better compassionate models of care that help older adults stay healthy, independent and connected to their communities for longer. When hospitals collaborate across borders, the real beneficiaries are not just our patients today, but the resilience and sustainability of healthcare systems for generations to come. Partnerships like this strengthen the insights and capabilities that NHG Health draws on to continue helping Singaporeans live healthier, longer lives," said Adj Prof Tang Kong Choong, Chief Executive Officer of TTSH, NHG Health.
Towards International Impact
This MOU is designed to be a living partnership and serves as a platform for meaningful and sustained collaboration that benefits patients, healthcare professionals and healthcare systems in both Singapore and China. Beyond ageing-related care, it creates opportunities for future collaboration in other clinical specialties, including rheumatology, infectious diseases and endocrinology, and lays the groundwork for broader engagement involving other TTSH departments, NHG Health institutions, and academic partners and community organisations in both countries. This partnership supports NHG Health’s broader efforts to strengthen population health outcomes and to deliver more integrated and person-centred care.
By working together to develop, evaluate and scale innovative models of care, TTSH and PUMCH aim to contribute to healthier ageing, a stronger healthcare workforce, and more resilient healthcare systems in an increasingly ageing world.
