The consistently overcrowded University Hospital Limerick (UHL) is to get 96 new single beds by September 2024 as part of measures to mitigate against the long-term trolley crisis at the hospital.
Construction of a 96-bed block on the grounds of the hospital, costing €90 million, is to start in early October, bringing to 200 the total number of new beds at the hospital over the last two years, announced Limerick Fine Gael TD Kieran O’Donnell.
“I welcome the direct confirmation I have received from HSE Estates that the new proposed 96 bed block on the grounds of UHL is due to commence construction by the start of October, at a cost of around €90 million, and furthermore, the HSE have confirmed to me that Sisk have been appointed as building contractors for this much needed project,” said Deputy O’Donnell.
“Our region has an historical issue in terms of inadequate bed capacity and I have been campaigning for additional beds at UHL for many years. My involvement with this new 96 bed block dates back to its beginning when I worked to secure HSE funding to get the design phase of the bed block underway in January 2017,” said the Limerick TD.
“This follows the new 60 bed block which I campaigned and worked on, which was built in 2020 and the 38 new beds provided during Covid-19 which along with this new 96-bed block will bring the total new beds at the UHL site in Dooradoyle to 194 by late 2024.
“This new 96 bed block, which will make a positive contribution to the delivery of hospital health services at UHL to the people of Limerick and the Mid-West, will be a new four-storey, 96 single-bed, acute inpatient ward block extension (Gross Floor area of 9,817 sqm) located above the existing two-storey above ground Renal & Emergency Department.
“I would like to thank the UHL management and HSE estates for advancing this new 96 bed block as fast as possible. Furthermore, I wish to compliment the extremely hard-working staff at UHL for their service and dedication to their patients.”
This morning UHL was not the most overcrowded hospital in the country, Cork University Hospital was, with 66 patients on trolleys waiting for a bed, followed by University College Hospital Galway (57), UHL (49), St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin (36); Naas General Hospital and Sligo University Hospital each had 26 patients on trolleys.
