 The hospital, which was commissioned to replace Neath General Hospital and Port Talbot General Hospital, was procured under a Private Finance Initiative contract in May 2000.It was designed by SSL and built by Kier Group at a cost of £56 million; it was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on 3 February 2003.In September 2012 the Health Board announced significant investment to create a new specialist IVF unit and expand the urology unit at the hospital in a bid to recruit and retain experienced clinicians.