Construction starts at Kier Heartlands Hospital project

Kier and the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, has held a virtual groundbreaking ceremony at Heartlands Hospital’s new Ambulatory Care and Diagnostics Centre (ACAD). The ceremony officially marks the start of works on site and attending alongside Kier and the NHS Trust, were attendees from the Department for Health and Social Care, including the Minister for Health, Edward Argar MP.The event included a flythrough of the project and how it will look, video clips from the Heartlands medical and nursing staff, community lead and a patient – as well as staff involved in the ACAD. There were speeches by CEO and the Minister for Health.This is an important milestone for the £97.1m project, which will include the construction of a new 18,000m² four-storey building that upon completion will provide a number of first-class facilities for the hospital, including 120 consultation rooms, 26 specialist audiology and ear nose and throat rooms, ultrasound and X-ray rooms, as well as CT and MRI scanners.The new ACAD building is due to be completed in 2022 and once opened, it will care for half a million patients per year. The ACAD building has been designed to provide a modern, spacious environment purpose-built to meet the needs of patients, with dementia friendly and accessible design features.Heartlands Hospital is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, and to mark the occasion staff, stakeholders and members of the community have contributed items for a time capsule which was buried in the grounds of ACAD.