£2 million charity appeal launched for super hospital
A campaign to raise £2 million to boost a new super hospital has been launched.
The public and businesses are being asked to support the charity campaign for the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH), which is being built in Smethwick.
Health bosses say the cash will be used fund research nurses, pharmacists and community spaces at the new hospital, which will cost nearly £1 billion to build and run.
The campaign, called We Are Metropolitan, has been launched by the Your Trust Charity, the registered charity of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, which will run the new hospital.
People and businesses across the region are being encouraged to support the campaign by donating to the fund by hosting events. Thrill-seekers are also being invited to take part in a bungee jump on site in September.
The state-of-the-art facility will open in 2022 and boast the biggest A&E department in Europe, serving 700,000 people across Sandwell and West Birmingham.
Work recently re-started on the hospital after a two-year delay following the collapse of Carillion.
Trust chairman Richard Samuda said: “Besides our drive to ensure MMUH delivers the best care possible for our patients, our charitable appeal for funding enables the trust to develop in parallel, important community outreach activities and research relevant to our patients. We see this as key to making this more than a hospital build project and to contribute to wider improvement in public health outcomes.
“There will also be an arts and culture programme, which will be supported not just through exhibits, but through summer concerts, plays, stage shows and other examples of the performing arts put on by schools and amateur groups.”
Mr Samuda added: “The thinking behind the We Are Metropolitan campaign is to reflect the fact that everyone within Sandwell and West Birmingham is part of this hospital, which is not just about caring for our community, but also including them.”
Paul Faulkner, chief executive of the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, is also co-chair for the campaign’s Business Committee.
He said: “I am delighted to support this worthwhile campaign and would encourage the business community to get involved. The scale, ambition and impact of the hospital will be truly transformational for our region.
"We are already over half way there - but we need the help of our local community to get to two million pounds by 2022. We want to make it more than a hospital, but that can only be achieved if we raise these vital funds.”
