A NEW multi-million pound community health hub at the site of the Bro Ddyfi Community Hospital in Machynlleth is set to open in May.

Dyfi Valley Health, who will move into the new £15m building when work is completed, announced last week that it had now begun the move from its current premises in Forge Road.

They said “the aim is to open officially at our new location from Tuesday, 2 May.”

The development at the Bro Ddyfi Community Hospital, which received funding from the Welsh Government, will “establish an integrated health and well-being facility for the local community.”

As well as integrating primary care services into the hospital site, the facility will also provide a base for health, local authority and third sector teams, encouraging improved integration and efficiency and supporting wellbeing, prevention and health promotion.

The programme also includes essential works to improve the fabric of the building.

The Bro Ddyfi Community Hospital was originally built in 1860 as the Machynlleth Union Workhouse.

Later it became the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and then the Machynlleth Chest Hospital before assuming its present role.

Welsh Government Health Minister Eluned Morgan said the new hospital building “will make a real difference to the people in the Dyfi Valley.”

“It will help to deliver more care closer to home, which is one of our key priorities for patient care, and will reshape community health and well-being services for the future,” she said.

Funding for the project was provided by the former health minister Vaughan Gething in 2017, with a final business case presented by Powys Teaching Health Board to the Welsh Government in 2020.

Work began at the site in 2021.

Hayley Thomas, Director of Planning & Performance from Powys Teaching Health Board said: “This is an important step in the delivery of the Health and Care Strategy for Powys, developed in partnership with Powys County Council and the people and communities of Powys.”

The three GP partners from Dyfi Valley Health added: “By bringing the GP practice into the heart of the Community Wellbeing Hub we will be able to work even closer together to NHS, social care and third sector colleagues to provide truly joined up care and wellbeing for local patients.”

The car park at the site has been shut for three weeks while contractors completed work on enlarging the car park for the new building.