Construction Commences on Dumfries and Galloway

Chair of the health board, Philip Jones, welcomed the Health Secretary to the site of the new £212m facility.  When it opens in 2017, it will offer 344 single rooms, an emergency care centre and a new combined theatres complex.

Ms Robison said  “I’m delighted to be here to mark the beginning of work on the new Dumfries hospital.  This is an exciting and important time for all those people involved in the project who are finally seeing their hard work come to fruition.

“The project provides a brand new emergency care department, a combined theatre complex for day surgery, endoscopy and surgical patients and consolidated ambulatory care.  These new facilities will transform healthcare in the Dumfries region, providing patients with the highest quality facilities.”

Ryder partner Paul Bell said “We are delighted to see construction works commence and look forward to seeing the new hospital begin to take shape.  The team have worked to a demanding programme with much of the structure and external envelope currently in fabrication in preparation for site erection beginning later this year.”

Laing O’Rourke is building the new hospital as part of the High Wood Health consortium (Laing O’Rourke, Serco and Aberdeen Asset Management).  The building is on track for a BREEAM Excellent rating.