Highland Council gives big cash boost to hospice
The Highland Hospice has received £200,000 from Highland Council towards a £6.5 million redevelopment of its in-patient unit at Bishop’s Road, Inverness.
The centre is refurbishing Ness House and the Netley Centre and is demolishing one of the original buildings to build a new unit.
The new building will sit alongside a redesigned day hospice, a quiet sanctuary room and increased physiotherapy, occupational therapy and bereavement support facilities.
There will also be family accommodation for loved-ones. The extra space will not only make it easier for doctors and nurses to care for patients, it will allow relatives to stay with loved ones in the same room.
The in-patient unit admitted its first patient 25 years ago and has four single bedrooms and two shared bedrooms.
It is thought the building work, set to start in April 2015, will take around 12 months to complete with the hospice moving temporarily to an NHS Highland site at County Community Hospital in Invergordon.
The hospice has used £2 million in reserves to pay towards the £6.5 million scheme.
Andrew Leaver, head of fundraising at Highland Hospice, said: "We would like to thanks the councillors and council officials for this tremendous contribution towards rebuilding the In Patient Unit at Highland Hospice. With council support our appeal has now reached £2.7 million.
"Funding from the council, charitable trusts and local companies such as the Orion Group, Technip and the Kingsmills Hotel make a huge impact on the appeal target and are essential for us, but we are also hugely grateful to everybody across the Highlands who has contributed to the appeal, whilst also ensuring we raise enough funds to keep our everyday services going."
