Work To Begin On New Development At Nenagh Hospital

Work on a new €4.8 million, 24-bed development at Nenagh Hospital is due to begin next week, following a ceremony on site which saw Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Alan Kelly officially turn the first sod on Monday.

Work will be carried out in two phases and is expected to take 20 months to complete. The work will see both a new extension as well as a major refurbishment of the existing male medical ward, effectively trebling in size the footprint of this current inpatient medical ward facility.

Beginning next week, Phase 1 will see the construction of a new extension, which will include 16 new high specification single occupancy en suite rooms and take approximately 12 months to complete; Phase 2 of the development will then see the refurbishment of the current male medical ward space to provide a further eight beds in four new double occupancy en suite inpatient rooms along with other ancillary spaces including administration offices, staff facilities and ward storage areas.

A two room suite which forms part of the phase one extension is being provided as a result of the support of the Friends of Nenagh Hospital and is intended to be known as the "Gloster Suite" in memory of the late Alice Gloster who generously left funding in her will to the group.

Speaking at the sod turning on Monday, Minister Alan Kelly said: "Nenagh Hospital has continued to provide crucially important services to the people of north Tipperary and its environs since 1936. This significant new investment which is in line with Government policy and the Framework for Securing the Future of Smaller Hospitals, is a vote of confidence that Nenagh will continue to provide the best possible care for its patients for a considerable time to come.

"I would also like to thank the Friends of Nenagh for their valued contribution to the development."

(MH)