PUGWASH, N.S. -- The Nova Scotia government says it will invest about $25 million to replace the North Cumberland Memorial Hospital.

Health Minister Randy Delorey said today in a news release the new hospital in Pugwash, N.S., about 170 kilometres north of Halifax, will better serve residents of the region.

Delorey says the province will spend $25.5 million to complete the remaining design work, finalize the land acquisition and build the facility, which he says will include a helicopter pad.

The new hospital will accommodate primary, urgent and outpatient care, laboratory and diagnostic imaging and inpatient palliative care.

A tender for the building contract is expected early in the new year, with construction starting next spring.

The North Cumberland Memorial Hospital opened in 1966.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2020.