In the 1980s, most needy kidney patients in Singapore were provided with dialysis treatment under the then government-funded program; the Self-Dependency Dialysis Unit (SDDU).
To keep the cost of the treatment low, patients had to provide a dialysis helper who was usually their spouses. Patients and their helpers had to spend numerous hours in the treatment process, preventing them from seeking full-time employment and thus leaving them trapped in the poverty cycle.
To address this issue, the Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF) was set up with the support of the Ministry of Health to subsidize the treatment fees for these low-income patients. KDF overhauled the SDDU program to provide patients with fully aided treatment so as to enable their family members to seek full-time employment.
In 1996, KDF’s first Haemodialysis (HD) centre, the KDF-Alexandra Centre situated in Alexandra hospital opened its doors to patients. To accommodate the rising number of needy patients, more centres were built over the years. The KDF-Bishan Centre was opened on 20 November 1997 by Mr Wong Kan Seng, Minister for Home Affairs and Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. The Centre is easily accessible to patients living in the northern and central parts of Singapore.|
On 9 October 2004, KDF inaugurated two new dialysis centres – San Wang Wu Ti (SWWT)-KDF Centre and KDF-Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) Centre located at Kreta Ayer Road. President Nathan and Mrs Nathan were invited to grace the occasion a KDF’s Guest-of-Honour. Other distinguished guests included Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister of Health, and Dr Lily Neo, Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC.
The haemodialysis centre, SWWT-KDF Centre, was so named because of the generous contribution by its disciples and devotees of the Society towards the full cost of building and maintenance of the Centre. The establishment of KDF-PD Centre was made possible with the generous combined donation from the Khoo Foundation and Singapore Pools (Pte) Ltd.
In mid 2005, the KDF- Alexandra Centre ceased operations as the lease for the location ended. With its closure, KDF needed a new centre to serve the existing patients. In December 2006, KDF received a generous donation from the Estate of Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat enabling KDF to build a dialysis centre to replace the Alexandra Centre. With this centre, KDF hopes to relieve the workload at the current centres and to better serve its patients. This new haemodialysis centre would be located at Ghim Moh. On 23 July 2007, KDF held the official opening ceremony for KDF – Ghim Moh Centre. The even was graced by Dr Vivian Balakrishnana, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Mr Teo Ho Pin, the Mayor of the North-West District and Ms Elizabeth and Mavis Khoo from the Estate of Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat.