These new images show how a £14.6millon replacement medical practice in the heart of Aberdeenshire could look.
Locals turned out in force to view NHS Grampian’s plans for the Inverurie Health Centre – which will serve 20,000 people in the Garioch area – yesterday.
It will include community health facilities, a dental and maternity unit, as well as diagnostic and treatment services.
Residents of Inverurie have been calling for a replacement for the current practice for almost two decades following huge expansions to the town.
Yesterday’s “public awareness” event was held at Inverurie’s Acorn Centre.
The practice would be built at the site of the Inverurie Hospital and would involve the demolition of its Ashcroft ward and ambulance service building.
The current Allan and Donbank wards, along with the admin block and renal unit, would be kept.
Project manager for the scheme, Stan Mathieson, said the medical centre had been a “long time in the making”.
He added: “The consultation has been really well received. It is something we feel is important. It is a fast-emerging town and this has been long overdue.
“By locating the health centre in the hospital site it gives us an opportunity to incorporate other services we wouldn’t normally see, such as the maternity unit.
“One of the considerations that we have got is a number of the buildings at the front are listed as art deco. What we have had to do is design the building in that style.”
He added that construction work would not interfere with the running of the hospital, with services at buildings being demolished moving to other locations.
Inverurie community nurse, Michelle Robertson, 36, said: “I think the plans look great and it is long overdue.
“One of the main concerns is parking for the staff while they are doing their work. Once it is done it could really reduce the pressure on Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.”
Retired nurse and chairwoman of the Friends of Inverurie Hospital group Margaret Harrow said: “We need it. We needed it yesterday, but of course not everybody agrees where it should be. it can’t come quick enough.”
Work could begin as early as May and the centre could open in 2018.