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Kier, McAlpine and Vinci building temporary hospitals

Nhs

Sir Robert McAlpine and Vinci have been revealed as the contractors tasked with transforming the Manchester Central Convention Centre into a temporary hospital for coronavirus patients.

Delivered by the firms’ long-running health joint venture IHP, the hospital will open its doors within the next week and is expected to receive up to 750 COVID-19 patients from the North West. The JV was awarded the job through the government's Procure 22 framework for England, which has been extended to accommodate the creation of temporary hospitals during the outbreak.

Sir Robert McAlpine healthcare sector lead Stuart McArthur said: “It’s been fantastic to see how our people have responded. It’s taken a huge amount of collaboration and a real can-do attitude to get this hospital up and running in a matter of weeks and everyone involved should be hugely proud. Their tremendous work is going to help save lives and it doesn’t get more important than that.”

Kier is another company working on site to turn a former Swansea film studio into a field hospital. The contractor, working alongside Swansea Council, is building a new structure inside Bay Studios that will initially provide 500 beds, with an additional 350 beds to be added in the coming weeks. The work has been procured through Swansea Council on behalf of the Swansea Bay University Health Board.

Kier regional building Western and Wales managing director Anthony Irving said: “Our aim is to help the NHS at this vital time and support its efforts in response to COVID-19. Working alongside Swansea Council and with our local supply chain, this is a collaborative effort at a time when our communities need it most.”

At the end of March, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board announced that sections of Laing O'Rourke's Grange University Hospital, based in the south of Wales, will open almost a year early in response to the coronavirus outbreak. By the end of this month, 350 of the hospital’s 471 beds are expected to be operational. The Welsh Government has provided £10m to speed up construction.

Last week it was announced that Balfour Beatty, Graham, Kier and Robertson are building a temporary NHS hospital in Glasgow. Interserve, meanwhile, is converting the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC) into a temporary hospital to treat coronavirus patients.

 

This article was first seen at https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/buildings/contracts/kier-mcalpine-and-vinci-building-temporary-hospitals-08-04-2020/

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