A £121m orthopaedic hub is being developed at Llantrisant Health Park in Wales, with construction due to begin this month.
The Regional Orthopaedic Arthroplasty Hub will provide six new operating theatres and 54 beds, alongside diagnostic and recovery facilities.
The facility will initially focus on hip and knee replacement surgery and is expected to deliver an average of 3,000 operations each year once operational.
The project is being delivered through a collaboration between Cwm Taf Morgannwg, Aneurin Bevan and Cardiff and Vale University Health Boards.
Construction is expected to be completed by late 2028, with the hub due to open to patients in early 2029.
The Welsh Government release does not name a contractor for the new facility.
The new facility forms part of the wider development of Llantrisant Health Park, which is being created through the transformation of a former aircraft engineering factory into a healthcare campus.
MTX is delivering the first phase of the development, including the Community Diagnostic Hub, and broke ground on the CDC in April.
The dedicated surgical centre is intended to increase capacity for planned orthopaedic care across south-east Wales, with clinicians also expecting more patients to be treated on the same day as their operation.
The Welsh Government said bringing hip and knee replacement surgery together within a dedicated facility is expected to support a target for no patient in the region to wait more than 36 weeks for treatment by 2030.
The hub is being backed by £121m in Welsh Government funding.
The project is the next phase in the development of Llantrisant Health Park as a centre for planned healthcare services in the region.
“This funding is a significant boost to the construction of a new purpose-built facility at Llantrisant Health Park designed to cut waiting times and get people the treatment they need faster,” said Mabon ap Gwynfor, Cabinet Minister for Health and Care.
