The outgoing chief executive of a crumbling hospital believed there is a "99.9 per cent chance" it will be replaced.
Caroline Shaw joined the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn in early 2019, tasked with bringing it out of special measures.
As she and staff grappled with the Covid pandemic, parts of the roof began collapsing.
The 500-bed QEH, which now has three times as many props holding up its roof than patients, is believed to be the most dilapidated in the country.
Ms Shaw and senior managers have spearheaded the campaign for a new hospital - along with the King's Lynn Trades Council which has held weekly protests outside the hospital, along with letter-writing campaigns and petitions to Parliament.
Ms Shaw, who leaves on Friday, took a break from officially opening a new £10m endoscopy unit at the QEH to meet with members, to thank them for helping to press the case for a new-build.
She told them she believed there was now a "99.9 per cent chance of success".
"I just wanted to say a huge, huge thank you for supporting our new hospital," she said. "It's the best community support I've seen in my career."
Trades Council secretary Jo Rust said of Ms Shaw: "Her dedication to furthering the cause of our new hospital has been unsurpassed by any of the chief executives we've had in my time."
Some £90m is being spent on shoring up the QEH's roof, but that money will not prolong its lifespan beyond 2030.
The hospital, built with an expected working life of 30 years in the late 1970s, is still in use more than four decades later and the reinforced concrete planks used for its roof are now failing.
After missing out on the list of new hospital builds announced by then prime minister Boris Johnson two years ago, there are hopes its bid for an £862m rebuild could be approved soon.
Detailed plans were revealed at public meetings two weeks ago, where the hospital's deputy chief executive Laura Skaife-Knight said: "We are as optimistic as we can be there will be a positive announcement."
New prime minister and South West Norfolk MP Liz Truss's pledged to build the hospitals Britain needed in her first speech after succeeding Johnson, having previously said she was committed to a new QEH if she became PM.
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