Hundreds of firms register for West Midlands Virtual Hospital

HUNDREDS of companies working in the healthcare care sector have expressed strong support for the new West Midlands Virtual Hospital.

WMVH is the digital representation of a real-life hospital embedded with a 3D BIM (Building Information Modelling) learning platform. It was launched by Sandwell Borough Council’s business growth team, Think Sandwell, last year.

Local businesses can use the platform to present their designs, drawings and technical data using easy-to-configure 3D analysis.

Think Sandwell said more than 600 companies from across the region had already registered their interest in the procurement tool ,which has been designed to showcase the West Midlands’ supply chain to companies which may commission, specify, engineer, build and operate healthcare facilities in the UK and abroad.
 
Cllr Paul Moore, Sandwell’s cabinet member for Regeneration and Economic Investment, said:  “I am really pleased with the high amount of interest being shown in the West Midlands Virtual Hospital. This is an innovative project that’s giving local and regional businesses the chance to showcase their expertise and generate new business leads here and overseas.”
 
With a number of construction projects set to start in the borough – including the £430m Midlands Metropolitan Hospital (the contract for which has been awarded to Wolverhampton-based Carillion) – WMVH enables construction companies across the UK to learn about the expertise available in Sandwell and procure that local talent, which stretches across building materials and fabrications through to interior furnishings, clinical equipment and medical technology.
 
In order to help prepare companies and give them the best chance possible to secure tenders, Sandwell Council said it was leading efforts to help SMEs adopt BIM in order to meet 2016 Government targets by providing a range of training initiatives.

BIM workshops will take place throughout the year with the aim of boosting the skills and BIM capabilities of firms operating in the region’s supply chain.

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