Two significant milestones for healthcare in the MidWest region could be reached today.
Politicians from Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary are meeting this morning to determine a unified approach to the HIQA review, while Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is visiting the region’s main hospital later to open a new 96-bed block.
It will be the Health Minister’s second visit to University Hospital Limerick in the space of just seven months.
In March, Fine Gael’s Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was inspecting the progress of a new 96-bed block at University Hospital Limerick, today she’ll be cutting the ribbon at its official opening.
In real terms it will only increase bed capacity at Dooradoyle by 71 as it’s being built on top of a former nightingale ward.
While this will bring some welcome relief to the people of the MidWest, events taking place elsewhere could prove to be important.
Oireachtas members and Cathaoirligh from Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary are meeting now in an attempt to determine a preferred recommendation from the recent HIQA review to return to the Health Minister.
The options include expanding the University Hospital Limerick campus, extending the UHL site to another location nearby, or the construction of a new Model 3 Hospital with Emergency Department elsewhere in the MidWest.
