Councillors have approved plans for a new health hub in Worthing, which will bring together mental health provision, community care and a pharmacy under one roof.
Worthing Borough Council has led on, designed and is funding the creation of the Worthing Integrated Care Centre (WICC) facility on the civic centre car park in Stoke Abbott Road.
In addition to making it easier for patients to access care, it will also provide a significant upgrade to the facilities used by scores of NHS staff while creating a new multi-storey public car park.
The WICC is to be located on the car park at the back of Worthing Town Hall and would see the existing Central Clinic site demolished to make way for the new facility.
It will meet the highest possible environmental standards with an air source heat pump providing the majority of the heating and photovoltaic solar panels on the roof.
A new multi-storey car park for 181 cars and 68 cycle spaces is also to be built next to the new centre. A fifth of the spaces will have EV charging points with the potential to upgrade the remaining bays over time.
The whole project is to be funded by Worthing Borough Council through borrowing which will be recouped through rent and income.
‘This is the culmination of a long-term aspiration by the council to make the most of this under-utilised land in the heart of Worthing,’ said executive member for health and wellbeing, Cllr Val Turner.
‘It’s taken ambition, vision, collaboration and lots of hard work to get this across the line. When complete, the result will be a fantastic new building which will complete the civic quarter and transform the way tens of thousands of residents receive healthcare.
‘Bringing together services onto one site like this will not only make it easier for those accessing care but also give our fantastic NHS workers state-of-the-art facilities to provide better integrated support,’ she added.
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