Thirteen years since proposals were first mooted, the start of construction work on Gwent’s delayed £350m hospital has been welcomed by Monmouth MP David Davies.
Mr Davies said the super-hospital, to be built in his constituency at Llanfrechfa Grange, Cwmbran, was “long overdue”.
It was announced by Health Secretary Vaughan Gething at a sod cutting ceremony today that the 471-bed facility, originally known as the Specialist and Critical Care Centre, will be named The Grange University Hospital.
Part of a wider Clinical Futures Strategy to modernise health services run by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, the state-of-the-art hospital will be home to more than 40 specialist services and is expected to open its doors to patients in spring 2021.
First proposed in 2004, the original plans were mothballed in 2009 before being put back on the agenda a year later. The Welsh Government approved funding for the hospital last October.
“I’m delighted that building work is finally starting on the hospital,” said Mr Davies.
“After a decade of delays, at least we can now be reasonably certain that this project will be completed and can look forward to the better standards of care which a modern facility will provide.”
Existing acute services at the Royal Gwent and St Woolos hospitals in Newport and Abergavenny’s Nevill Hall Hospital are likely to see changes when the new hospital opens, the Welsh Government has previously said.