Progress made on case for new elective hospital in Galway City
From this week's Galway City Tribune - The Minister for Health has confirmed that a business case for the construction of a new elective hospital in Galway will be completed before Christmas.
The Saolta Group – which operates Galway’s public hospitals – wants the new hospital built on its grounds at Merlin Park.
A review is also underway to assess the clinical facilities that will be required and the type of procedures that would be carried out at the hospital, which is expected to have 200 bed spaces.
It is expected, though not confirmed, that new hospital will include 75 elective hospital beds, as well as 125 day-case beds, and 11 operating theatres. It will also include eight scope rooms and 71 outpatient rooms.
At a virtual meeting this week, Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed to Pat Nash, Clinical Director of the Saolta University Healthcare Group, and Tony Canavan, CEO of Saolta that a preliminary business case will be completed before the end of the year.
The meeting was also attended by Galway West Fine Gael Minister Hildegarde Naughton and Galway East Fianna Fáil Minister Anne Rabbitte.
The new facility will cater for non-complex short stay (less than four days) elective surgery, and also for longer stay surgery in areas such as hip and knee replacement, minor bladder procedures, and non-cancer prostate surgery.
(Photo: The Saolta Hospital Group wants the new hospital built on the grounds of Merlin Park) This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.