A health board has been given Scottish Government approval to develop an outline business case to rebuild or refurbish Monklands Hospital in Airdrie.
As part of the outline business case (OBC) NHS Lanarkshire will identify the preferred option from a choice of four - do minimum, fully refurbish the current hospital, construct a new-build on the current hospital site or build a new hospital on another site.
The OBC will take into account the assessment of the population needs of the west of Scotland and associated regional service planning.
The health board said it can now move on to the next phase of planning following Scottish Government approval of the Initial Agreement to seek a capital allocation for the project.
Colin Sloey, NHS Lanarkshire director of Strategic Planning and Performance, said: "We are delighted that the Scottish Government has formally approved the Initial Agreement and that we can begin the process of creating an outline business case.
"The development of the outline business case will be undertaken in the broader context of achieving the aims of the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan.
"In doing so, we recognise the need to work collaboratively with other health boards in the region to ensure the benefit is maximised for the whole of the population we serve."
The whole business case process will take between two to three years to complete.
The construction period for the new development will be dependent on the preferred option.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "Considerable investment has gone into Monklands Hospital in recent years and we have now asked NHS Lanarkshire to produce an outline business case that considers the needs of the population right across the West of Scotland and delivers excellent care and value for money.
"The level of potential investment involved in this programme is significant, so any final decision will be subject to future Scottish Government budgets and will be taken in the context of improving the quality of clinical service provision right across Scotland."
An option appraisal event, involving a wide range of stakeholders, will take place during 2018 to identify the preferred option for either refurbishment or rebuild.
Dr Jim Ruddy, clinical lead for the Monklands Replacement/Refurbishment Project (MRRP), said: "While no preferred option has been identified at this stage, we have an exciting opportunity to enhance the hospital facilities for our patients and staff and take the level of care we can provide to a whole new level."
Councillor Jim Logue, leader of North Lanarkshire Council, said: "This is another big step forward in a vital project for the communities of North Lanarkshire and beyond.
"The council is fully committed to working in partnership with NHS Lanarkshire to realise these ambitious plans and we will continue to offer all support and practical help possible."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here