A NEW surgical centre and outpatient facility at Croom orthopaedic hospital along with an increase in the number of long-stay patient beds at St. Ita’s Hospital in Newcastlewest are among developments planned by the HSE in Limerick.
Confirmation that work is to proceed at both hospitals was welcomed this week by Limerick Fine Gael TD Patrick O’Donovan who said that this was as a result of discussions with the Department of Health and the HSE over many months.
“Earlier this year, I organised a very productive meeting between Health Minister Leo Varadkar and representatives of the medical team in Croom. Before that, I facilitated a visit by the former Minister James Reilly to St. Ita’s where he met with the Hospital staff and representatives of the Friends of St. Ita’s.
“Over the last number of months, I have met with the HSE in the Mid West on a number of occasions in relation to both hospitals to impress upon them the need for investment in the facilities and I am glad now to see that plans are being developed for both locations.”
Deputy O’Donovan was told that the plans are at a very early stage “but I believe that the most important thing is that by working with the representatives and volunteers attached to both St. Ita’s and Croom, we have been able to get the HSE to see the value of prioritising the two hospitals for investment.
“This initial phase of the process is probably the most important. Without a plan, money cannot be allocated from the HSE budget, so the fact that they have agreed to start this work and already have detailed proposals being put together is very positive.
“The next steps will also be challenging where we have to fight for our share of the national HSE capital budget, but I am confident based on the commitment of the HSE locally that working together we can convince the HSE nationally to make these investments”, he added.
