Plans worth up to £4 million for the next upgrade to Llandrindod Wells County War Memorial Hospital have been submitted to the Welsh Government.
At a meeting on Thursday, Powys Teaching Health Board gave phase two of the project the go ahead, meaning a business case can now be submitted to the Government.
The first phase of the redevelopment has seen an expanded renal dialysis unit reducing the need for patients to travel to Hereford.
Now the second phase, which would see investment in facilities for end of life care, a minor injuries unit, physiotherapy facilities and also investment in mental health services, has passed a major milestone.
PTHB director of planning and performance, Hayley Thomas, told board members: “We’ve recently invested over £8 million into the Llandrindod site, this is one of the sites that’s been identified to be a rural regional centre.
“We’ve received positive feedback about the improved environment now and also our ability to extend the use and range of the site.
“We are all aware of the ageing estate we have across Powys and we have been able to deal with some of the backlog maintenance issues with the initial investment.”
Ms Thomas added: “We are planning to bring more of our services back into Powys through our rural regional centre approach, and that helps us to deliver better patient care locally in terms of accessibility.
“Delivering services in county when safe and appropriate to do so, enables us to potentially reduce those commissioning costs in the longer term and have a more sustainable model.”
Other phase one improvements included an integrated day surgery, endoscopy and day ward area to provide more surgical and diagnostic procedures.
Health Minister Vaughan Gething tours the phase one upgrade
The revamp also includes a new dental suite to offer modern facilities for community dental service, expanded outpatient facilities and x-ray department to provide a modern patient environment for appointments and scans.
As part of the process, “business justification cases” with detailed designs will be brought back to the board for approval before being submitted for Welsh Government approval. The next phase is worth between £2.5 and £4 million.
Board chairman Professor Vivienne Harpwood said: “We’ve already seen some exciting changes there, and more is on the way.
“I’m delighted that we welcomed the Health Minister, Vaughan Gething, for a tour of the first phase of improvements before we went into lockdown.
“He did acknowledge how important these small hospitals are to rural communities, thanks to all involved.”