Private hospital group, Bon Secours have agreed to allocate a percentage of their bed capacity to the HSE to help ease the pressure on the health system caused by the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The groups hospitals in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Tralee will provide the HSE with up to 30 per cent of their capacity, according to The Irish Times, following similar agreements with the Blackrock, Galway and Hermitage Clinics, which are all part of the Parma Healthcare Group.
Hospitals within the Mater Private group will also take part in the arrangement, while HSE chief executive Paul Reid said a deal is also expected to be reached with the Beacon Hospital.
During the first wave of the pandemic last year, a similar deal was struck with private hospitals to ensure the healthcare system did not become overwhelmed, but the increased capacity went largely unused as transmission rates of the virus fell following the first national lockdown.
As of 2pm today, there were 1,180 people with Covid-19 in hospital, surpassing the highest number recorded during the first wave of the virus. Of the number of people in hospital with the virus today, 109 were being treated in Intensive Care Unit's (ICUs).
The new deal allows for the HSE to take over between 15 to 30 per cent of the private hospitals' capacity, depending on the level of daily case numbers and hospitalisations, but chief executive of the Bon Secours Health System Bill Maher says private healthcare services will be able to continue.
The new deal is expected to last for 12 months.
