Revised plans for a major new healthcare and life sciences centre at Inverness Campus – expected to create nearly 200 jobs – will be unveiled to the public today.
The new Centre for Health Science 2 – a joint venture involving NHS Highland, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) – will include a £34 million elective care unit for the north of Scotland.
It will also house a life sciences innovation centre, developed by UHI with £9m of UK Government funding through the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal, and a business incubator for the sector, created by HIE.
The elective care unit, run by NHS Highland and occupying the largest part of the two-acre site, will have 28 in-patient beds and four operating theatres, as well as daycare and out-patient facilities.
Understood to be the largest development to date on the campus site at the southern entrance to the city, the new facility is intended to build on the success of the Centre for Health Science, which opened next to Raigmore Hospital a decade ago.
About 189 new jobs should be be created by the new development.
And the revised plans, which involved altering the design and positioning of the building and creating more parking, will be available for public viewing today.
New artist impressions and details can be seen in An Lòchran, 10 Inverness Campus between 8am and 7pm.
The initial plans went on display in early July, during which the developers received feedback and suggestions.
Ruaraidh Macneil, NIE’s Inverness Camps director, said: “This is a major development for Inverness and for the Highlands and Islands, delivering on a number of fronts. It will improve the health outcomes and patient experience across the region, while supporting the ongoing growth of the University of the Highlands and Islands. ]
“At the same time, it will also create new commercial opportunities and high value career options, thereby helping to attract and retain new talent for the region.”
