“The hospital’s new CF unit will have isolation facilities and air filtration processes where patients can be treated without risk of catching whatever bug is plaguing the hospital at the time.”
FOR most people, catching a dose of the winter vomiting bug is nothing more than an unpleasant experience. For 21-year old UL student, Katie Drennan, it could have much more serious consequences.
Katie – who has had to suspend her studies at the University of Limerick because her Cystic Fibrosis, has deteriorated – was very happy yesterday to see work start on the new hospital units at the Midwest Regional in Dooradoyle.
“Being exposed to cross-infection is very serious for someone with CF and you can’t be guaranteed isolation,” she told the Limerick Post.
Katie and her brother, Jordan (20) are both waiting to be assessed for lung transplant operations, which would be life-changing but in the meantime, trips to hospital are a nightmare.
“A lot of people with CF put off having hospital treatment because they are afraid of cross-infection,” said Katie, who has herself contracted infections from being in hospital, although that was not in Limerick, she stressed.
The new CF unit at the Mid Western Regional will have isolation units and air filtration processes where patients can be treated without risk of catching whatever bug is plaguing the hospital at the time.
The unit will ensure the safety of patients like Katie while they await lifesaving transplant surgery.
Also on hand for Minister Michael Noonan’s launch of construction work on the new unit, was Adrienne Purcell, a patient who came to the hospital with chronic eczema.
“I have such great gratitude for Dr Bart Ramsey and his team who rescued me.
“When he met me he said ‘I won’t let you go until I’ve sorted you out,’ and that is what the people behind this wonderful new facility did – they didn’t stop until it was sorted,” she said.
Another patient, Helen Leo revealed how March 9, 2010 was “my worst day ever.
“That was the day I was told I had breast cancer. I remember that patients have to queue sitting under the stairs. It’s on top of you, you’re all crushed in close together, I was near to hyperventilating and I was trying to get my head around what I had just been told.
“This new building will mean that the facilities for treating breast cancer are not fragmented and patients won’t have to wait under the stairs”.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan TD with Nollaig Lonergan, Mid-Western Hospital Trust; Philip Watt, CEO, Cystic Fibrosis Association; and Una Anderson-Ryan, Parkinson’s Association of Ireland. – Photo: Kieran Clancy
