Banbridge District Council has welcomed the recent announcement by the Health Minister, Edwin Poots, that £15m in funding has been made available to develop the new Health and Care Centre and Day Care Centre at the Community Health Village in Banbridge.

On hearing the news Council Chairman, Councillor Joan Baird commented: “We are absolutely delighted that funding has at last been made available to complete this final piece in the jigsaw at our Health Village.  This is something which I and indeed many other councillors have been dreaming of since the council purchased the former Banbridge Hospital site back in 2001.  It has been a long hard road that we have travelled along in that time but the important thing is that the whole vision for the site has now been realised and the people of our district will be able to access new modern health-care facilities on their doorstep. This is great news for the people of Banbridge.”

Council Chief Executive, Liam Hannaway, echoed Councillor Baird’s views on the announcement adding: “This £15m investment in our district’s healthcare will provide an exciting range of community services to complement what has already been developed at the Health Village.  It will also be important for the regeneration of the town and bring with it much needed employment opportunities while providing a magnificent opportunity for joint working between the council’s Environmental Health Staff (already located on the site) and the Trust to improve the health and well-being of our residents.”