Idea for new hospital in Aviemore was born a decade ago
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An NHS Highlands chief has pinpointed the moment the idea of a new hospital for the strath was struck a decade ago.
Kenny Rodgers, NHSH project director responsible for the Badenoch and Strathspey redesign, said that it had come during a meeting with health campaigners in 2011.
The transfer of patients and services into the new £20m Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital has been continuing today with the new ambulance base opening.
Mr Rodgers recalls: "NHS Highland senior management came to Kingussie to speak to the POST (Protect Our Service Today) group about the future of Kingussie in particular.
"Everyone acknowledged that the buildings were no longer fit for purpose; they had a long backlog of maintenance and no matter how much money was spent they would never be fit for purpose.
“They did not meet fire compliance and modern infection control regulations.
“There was a general acknowledgement that something had to change and one community member said ‘Well, maybe we need to close both hospitals at each end and build a new one in the middle’.
“I think that was quite a revelation.
"That was where the embryo came from – within the community itself.”
Q&A on the new Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital
PHOTOS: See inside the new £20m hospital which has opened its doors in Aviemore
