Building work will begin in January on a £3m refurbishment programme at BMI Chelsfield Park Hospital in Orpington.
The building work, which is expected to take 14 months, will deliver a new open-plan hospital reception and waiting area, fully-refurbished outpatient department, improved patient bedrooms in the hospital’s west wing, and will extend the hospital’s assisted conception unit with the addition of a new specialist male fertility/andrology lab.
The upgrade and renovation project work is focused on the oldest parts of the hospital, which were built in the early part of the 19th Century when it was used as a rectory by the Reverend Dr Tarleton. The building was first utilised as a hospital during the Second World War to treat wounded soldiers, but fell into disuse and a bad state of repair shortly after. A developer converted the building into a country house hotel and this remained its use until the early 1980s. It was during this time the building was turned back into a hospital, an extension added, and it became BMI Chelsfield Park Hospital.
The investment from the hospital’s parent company, BMI Healthcare, is to be managed and delivered by the hospital group’s major projects team in conjunction with a specialist design team. A series of short-term internal moves for BMI Chelsfield Park Hospital’s pharmacy and fertility lab will be followed by the relocation of the outpatients department, specialist bariatric team, main reception and the hospital’s senior management team into a new modular home for the duration of the project.
Speaking about the renovation plans, Michelle Williams, major projects manager, said: “As part of the works we are improving the patient-facing areas of the hospital and bringing the old part of the building up to date with the latest building regulations.
“Any major project involves some disruption although we aim to engage with the hospital’s team and local community to ensure this is kept to an absolute minimum. Having handpicked our specialist team of builders and contractors I am confident that the project will be delivered within the allocated 12-14 month deadline, ready for launch in the spring of 2015.”
