1996/99
For up to date news visit the Connaught Telegraph website.
Showpiece Mayo General Hospital for the new Millennium
4 March 1998
ON THRESHOLD OF A NEW HEALTHCARE ERA
By Tom Shiel
JUNE 2001- that's the official target date for the completion of Phase Two of Mayo General Hospital.
Costing £25 million, the long awaited extension will give Mayo a health facility which will be the envy of other areas in the country.
Sleek and streamlined, the combined buildings will be ultra-modern and well equipped with sophisticated medical equipment.
The development is the largest single capital project ever undertaken by the Board since its establishment twenty seven years ago.
Of all the hospitals in the province, only University College Hospital in Galway - when scheduled major developments are completed there - will have hospital facilities and accommodation to rival those in Mayo.
OPTIMISM AND CONGRATULATION
There was a mood of optimism, enthusiasm and congratulation at the Western Health Board meeting in Galway on Monday when Programme Manager, Dr. Sean Conroy explained that the long awaited Phase Two will soon be a reality.
The total bed complement of the new hospital will be 314, compared with 226 at the moment. Dr. Conroy explained.
An important feature of the hospital will be a 33 bed Orthopaedic Department which will provide a service for the first time in Mayo to orthopaedic sufferers.
There is also provision for a new accident and emergency department with a special nurse on duty to carry out an initial check on casualties and direct them quickly to the most appropriate area for treatment.
An extension will be built to the Radiology Department to accommodate the new CT Scan machine for which £400,000 has been raised so far by a special funding raising group.
Phase Two will also have:
A 15 bed Geriatric Assessment Unit (including occupational therapy); a 33 bed Medical Department (including 2 palliative care beds); a 27 bed Surgical Department; a 35 bed Acute Psychiatric Unit; a 30 bed Obstetrics Department; a new Pathology Department; a Department of Adolescent and Child Psychiatry; a Medical Educational Suite; a Day Surgical Ward/Medical Assessment and a Pharmacy.
ENTRANCE ATRIUM
New roads will be built around the hospital and there will be a totally new entrance, through a bright and cheerful atrium, to the complex.
The timetable for the project was outlined by Dr. Conroy as follows: mid-April 1998- Report and Recommendation from the Design Team on tender documentation. May 1998- Acceptance of tender by the Minister for Health and Children and commencement of contract.
Following Dr. Conroy's presentation, Mayo Board members Pat Kilbane, Dorothy McKane, Dr. Diarmuid McLoughlin, Padraig Cosgrove, John Flannery and Sean Bourke expressed delight at the progress which was being made.
Councillor Kilbane said it was the happiest day ever for him as a member of the Health Board while Dr. McLoughlin described it as "a great day for Mayo".
While welcoming Phase Two, Councillor Cogsrove said something would need to be done about parking at the hospital complex as the present parking meter system was "a shambles" which will need to be addressed.
Roscommon Board members said they were pleased with Mayo's good fortune. Councillor Eithne Quinn said of late Board member, Councillor Dick Morrin: "If Dick were here today he would be laughing with satisfaction".
Connaught Telegraph - News & Sport - March 1998
