New beds for Tipperary University Hospital
The St Michael’s Unit of Tipperary University Hospital (TUH) in Clonmel is set to see a €7 million funding injection to allow for the delivery of 33 new beds in the hospital. These beds will be delivered in their entirety by the end of 2022, under this year’s HSE Capital Development Plan, and should see the end of people on trollies in the hospital.
Deputy Jackie Cahill announced this much-needed funding for healthcare in the region, after speaking to the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, who confirmed that he had sanctioned the requested funding in its entirety.
An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin visited Clonmel last October to open the new 40-bed modular unit in TUH and it was then that Marie Barry, General Manager, presented the Taoiseach with plans to develop the St Michael’s Unit, which would see the addition of 33 beds into the hospital’s growing capacity.
Since then, Deputy Cahill has met with Marie Barry, Professor Peter Murchan and senior management of the hospital to discuss these plans in detail and the funding requirements to deliver the 33 beds for the region.
Announcing this very positive news, Deputy Cahill said: “I received a call from the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly first thing this morning informing me that he has sanctioned the full €7million requested for the delivery of 33 additional beds for TUH. This funding will allow for the development of the existing St Michael’s Unit and the construction of a linking corridor into the main hospital.
“Most importantly, with the minister’s direction, the HSE has included this project in their Capital Development Plans for 2022, meaning that these 33 additional beds will be delivered in their entirety in 2022. They will also be delivered at a fraction of the cost, due to the utilisation of the existing St Michael’s building as a standing resource.
The Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary continued: “Cllr Siobhán Ambrose was instrumental in getting the Taoiseach to Clonmel in late October, where he was first presented with these plans by Marie Barry. At the time, the Taoiseach commented that the delivery of these additional beds was ‘low hanging fruit’.
“The Fianna Fáil team in Tipperary and in Government then got to work on delivering this project. I met with Marie Barry, Professor Peter Murchan and senior staff in mid-November to go through the plans in detail. The following week, when I raised this matter on the floor of the Dáil, I was sure to remind the Taoiseach that the delivery of these beds was ‘low hanging fruit’.
“Since then, I have been in regular contact with Minister Stephen Donnelly, who was very keen to see this unit delivered, and An Taoiseach Micheál Martin. I spoke with both the Minister and An Taoiseach a number of times on this issue during the week, to give it the last push it needed to get it over the line.
Cahill then stated that these additional beds should see the end of people on trollies in TUH. “I spoke with Marie Barry this morning to share the good news and she informed me that there are currently 14 people on trollies this morning in the hospital. These 33 additional beds should see an end to people on trollies in TUH, and that is real deliver in action.
“I would like to sincerely thank the Fianna Fáil Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, the Taoiseach, Cllr Siobhán Ambrose, Marie Barry and Professor Murchan for working with me on this project. In a short three months, the Fianna Fáil team in Tipperary and in Government have delivered 33 new beds for TUH, which should effectively bring an end to people on trollies in the hospital."