Health minister confirms new beds for Cork hospital
Approval has been granted for the registration of long-awaited new beds in a West Cork hospital as part of a €14 million development.
The beds will be opened in the newly refurbished old hospital building at Macroom Community Hospital.
The building has been approved for registration by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), a government-funded agency which monitors the safety and quality of healthcare systems.
Announcing the news was Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, who was at the site last week as part of a three-stop visitation of newly developed HSE South West facilities in Cork.
The minister also visited the new €50 million developments at Kanturk Community Hospital and Millstreet Community Hospital where further construction work is currently underway on the old hospital building.
Minister MacNeill concluded the visit at Macroom Community Hospital where she confirmed that HIQA have approved for the registration of the refurbished old hospital building enabling the opening of new beds on a phased basis in the coming weeks.
Minister MacNeill said building capacity, both in terms of workforce and infrastructure, is essential to addressing Ireland’s long-term demographic challenges.
She said: “Substantial public investment is being made in healthcare infrastructure to support the ambitions of Sláintecare, including over €50 million allocated to the sites I visited.”
The health minister continued: “The provision of high-quality, safe care and modern facilities for older persons is a key priority for me and for Minister for Older People, Kieran O’Donnell.
“We look forward to the completion of these developments and the delivery of full capacity as soon as possible,” added Ms MacNeill.
HSE South West Regional Executive Officer, Dr Andy Phillips welcomed the minister and said the development of new facilities in Kanturk, Millstreet, and Macroom Community Hospitals demonstrates the HSE’s commitment to delivering the highest standard of care.
Dr Philips added: “In building a health service our community is proud of, we are investing in high quality services for our valued older persons.”