 The facility was first planned in the 1960s as a general hospital for Dudley and the surrounding area.The first phase of the hospital opened in the Russells Hall area of Dudley in 1976 as a laundry centre for the borough's hospitals, and the general hospital buildings were built within the next five years, but a shortage of equipment meant that it did not open to patients until March 1984, becoming fully operational in May that year.The new hospital included an accident and emergency unit to replace those at the Guest Hospital and the Corbett Hospital in Stourbridge.