City of York Council has been in discussions with key local partners (primary care, Bootham School, York Hospital Trust, and the CCG) regarding potential options to develop a wide range of services on the Bootham Hospital site.
Options include proposals to maintain the public green space; support the school to develop their sports playing field; develop a primary care centre; develop affordable housing which could be potentially targeted to supporting staffing at the adjacent York hospital; and an Older Peoples residential care home.
An outline business case has been developed and the Council is currently in discussions about the possibility of developing, with partners, a detailed business case to utilise the Bootham Park sites, as outlined above, for a range of health related services for the residents of York.
Councillor Ian Gillies, Conservative Leader of the Council, said:
“We are just beginning exploratory talks, so it’s too early at this point to specify the exact services we think the old hospital site could accommodate. Obviously we are not looking at any kind of in-patient care, but there are a variety of potential uses for the building. Plus the site is well-placed to deliver multiple services linked to health and social care services and related functions.
“Our main intention is to seriously explore the potential of keeping Bootham Park as a facility for the city rather than seeing it sold to the highest bidder, which is likely would be private sector housing. With new health and social care hubs opening at Burnholme and Lowfield, there is the possibility that Bootham could provide similar central based services for residents in the city centre.
“It’s early days but we believe the possibility of keeping building within the health and social care sector could be a win-win situation for several partner agencies, including both the NHS and the city.”