A ceremony took place on Thursday 30th January to mark the ‘Topping Out’ of the new HMT Sancta Maria Hospital in Swansea. The building has now reached its highest height and is entering its internal fit out stage ahead of the hospital opening this Autumn.
Representatives from the Healthcare Management Trust (HMT), which owns Sancta Maria, were joined on site by staff from the hospital and construction workers to commemorate this important milestone.
The building stands at 17m tall and is four storeys in total. This includes a basement car park, two floors of clinical space and a plant room on the roof. Construction began on site in March last year and is expected to be finished before the end of September this year with the first patients being seen at the new hospital in October.
The Steel Framing System is now completed which will allow the internal trades to commence. Externally, brickwork has now started on the south and east sides of the building. Over the coming months, the external works will progress and specialist installers of theatre equipment including the X-Ray and MRI will begin work on site to ensure that progress remains on track.
Geoff Bailey, Hospital Director at HMT Sancta Maria, comments: “The opening of Swansea’s newest private hospital is edging ever closer as the building has now reached its full height and internal works move forward. The team from Kier are working incredibly hard to deliver the building on time and we wanted to extend our gratitude to them.
“When the new hospital opens it will improve the patient experience in a way that is no longer possible at our Uplands site. While we have extended and remodelled the existing property, we now need to have a purpose-built facility in order to offer patients what they need. The new hospital will have on site parking and diagnostic equipment as well as improved access and a dedicated out-patient consulting area. We look forward to seeing the finishing touches being made to the building over the coming weeks and months as we countdown to the official opening.”
Kier is the primary contractor on site. As a socially-conscious organisation, Kier is committed to working alongside the local community and being a good neighbour. The company has hosted several site visits from local schools, STEM students and young people working towards a career in particular trades.
Jason Taylor, operations director for Kier in Wales, states: “Today marks a key milestone for the new Sancta Maria Hospital, as we top out, we are another step closer in providing new facilities for the hospital and its patients.
“Working collaboratively with the Healthcare Management Trust, we have engaged with the local community throughout this project. We have held community evenings, supported our local supply chain and also had two apprentices on the site. We look forward to completing the project later this year for the Swansea community.”
The Healthcare Management Trust is a registered charity. All profits made from both its private hospitals in Swansea and Grimsby and its network of care homes is ploughed back into local communities and into Dementia research on a national level.