New health centre is '˜taking shape'

The firm in charge of turning the derelict site into the £3.5million centre is A & S Enterprises, which was awarded the contract in September.

The unit will replace the former Heanor Memorial Hospital on Ilkeston Road.

William Jones, chief operating officer for Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re delighted with the progress being made on the new build in Heanor and how it is taking shape. Local people are set to benefit from a range of high quality community-based services right on their doorstep for many years to come. My colleagues and I are so excited that we’ll soon be able to care for patients from this state-of-the-art facility.”

The memorial hospital has been closed to patients since September 2013, after asbestos was discovered in a boiler room during a routine inspection. Formal approval to go ahead with the plan to demolish and replace it with the new care unit was given by the Southern Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) governing body in October 2014, after a three-month consultation period and numerous public meetings with health care officials, residents and service users. The centre will provide services that meet requirements of the population, with a focus on mental health and dementia.