A former local GP has made an impassioned plea for Newton Stewart Hospital to be reopened.
Dr Angela Armstrong addressed Cree Valley Community Council on Monday and won their support.
She spoke at the meeting on behalf of Newton Stewart Hospital Action Group which is campaigning for the unit to be brought back into full use.
The 24-bed facility stopped admitting patients after the pandemic began in early 2020 and is currently limited to delivering Covid vaccinations.
It had been providing a step-down service for local patients recovering after treatment in DGRI or elsewhere.
Dr Armstrong , 80, told the meeting she would now be writing to NHS Dumfries and Galloway chief executive Jeff Ace calling for the hospital to be opened up again.
She said: “Four or five years ago I brought this up with Mr Ace and he said then that there was only about ten years’ life left in the hospital and they were looking to build a replacement.
“We need the hospital to be near our patients – that helps to stop bed-blocking in the bigger hospitals.
“It also makes life easier for relatives to go and visit them before they get home. Newton Stewart is an important step-down facility for patients who have been in a big hospital for something serious then start to get better.”
“They said they needed the extra capacity but in the end they didn’t.
“A lot of the staff went out of the hospital into the community.
“Now the health board says they can’t take people away from those roles because they can’t recruit replacements.”
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has pledged to look into the possibility of reopening Newton Stewart and Kirkcudbright hospitals.
