The first major milestone in the transformation of the north-east’s health service has been reached.
The new £7.6 million Foresterhill Health Centre was officially opened in Aberdeen yesterday, with NHS bosses also revealing work will begin on the Baird Family Hospital and the Anchor Cancer Centre before the end of the year.
The facility encompasses two GPs, Elmbank Group Practice and Westburn Medical Group, which can treat more than 15,000 patients by providing more than 1,000 appointments a week.
The three-storey building also has a Boots pharmacy, workspace for speech and language therapists, dietitians and podiatrists as well as offices for the Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership.
The centre was opened by NHS Grampian chairman Stephen Logan who gave a speech marking the occasion.
“This is a critical moment and a key part of our masterplan to take health services to the next level in Grampian,” he said.
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“While this new building is a huge step forwards for Foresterhill Health Centre, the demolishing of the previous facility, also paves the way for the new, £150m Anchor cancer centre and Baird Family Hospital on that site.
“They will be some of the finest health facilities anywhere in the world and it will be a huge honour to have them here in the north east.”
The Baird Hospital will replace the existing Aberdeen Maternity Hospital from 2021, while the Anchor Centre in-patient and out-patient treatment for cancer patients.
Lynne Irvine, store manager, said: “Caring for patients is at the heart of what we do, so we know that the brand new pharmacy will be an excellent addition to the centre.
“This partnership means that we’re not only located where customers want and need us most, but also allows us to work together to support patient care in the local community, making a real difference to people’s health and wellbeing.”
Work to demolish the former health centre is due to begin within the next few weeks and site preparations are scheduled to start in the winter.
