“This was not one of the scenarios we were working on,” says a pleasantly surprised Erwin van Santen, director at the Wilhelmina Hospital (WZA) in Assen.
He is responding to the news that the municipality of Assen is using its pre-emptive right in the sale of the NAM headquarters in the city.
Due to this pre-emptive right, NAM must first offer the building to the municipality of Assen when selling. The municipality will thus be the first to make a bid.
The Assen council wants to keep the option open that the building can become a healthcare work location for the Wilhelmina Hospital. “We are very happy with this support,” says Van Santen of the WZA.
In March, NAM announced that the office complex at Schepersmaat will be put up for sale. The hospital made a bid for the building last month, but it was rejected. NAM announced that it will continue with two other providers.
A big setback for the WZA. “But the dream had not yet completely disappeared. We kept a little hope and looked at the possibilities of how we can still manage to use this building,” says the WZA director. And then yesterday came the step of the council in Assen.
“The NAM inquiry to interested parties gave us the strong impression that they would take into account appropriate development of this area when choosing a buyer. This was also the reason why we did not take this step earlier,” the municipality of Assen said yesterday.
The area in which the building is located is important for Assen. The council wants to focus on a transition to a care-work location, in line with the plans of the Wilhelmina Hospital (WZA).
“Hopefully this can help us realize our dream. The question is of course what will happen next,” says Van Santen of the hospital. “It is now mainly up to the municipality and NAM to find a solution together.”
According to Erwin van Santen, the WZA keeps the door open for the NAM: “And we understand that the NAM is still open to us.”